80th Airmobile Regiment (Ukraine)

80th Airmobile Brigade
Sleeve patch of the Brigade
Active	3 May 1955 – present
Country	Ukraine
Branch	Ukrainian Ground Forces
Type	Airmobile
Size	1,600 (2004–05)
Part of	Operation Command West
Garrison/HQ	Lviv
Motto(s)	Nobody but Us
Anniversaries	19 December (formation)
Equipment	BTR-80
Engagements	Soviet war in Afghanistan Nagorno-Karabakh War Operation Iraqi Freedom War in Donbass
Decorations	Order of the Red Star (Removed)
Commanders
Commanding officer	Colonel Volodymyr Shvorak
Insignia
Airmobile Forces insignia
Patch of the 81st Tactical Group in Iraq

The 80th Airmobile Brigade (Ukrainian: 80-та окрема аеромобільна бригада; Military Unit Number A0284) is an airmobile formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. The brigade is part of Operation Command West. The brigade traces its history back to the 80th Airborne Regiment, formed in 1955 as part of the Soviet airborne's 7th Guards Airborne Division. Four years later, the regiment transferred to the 104th Guards Airborne Division. It participated in Operation Whirlwind in 1956 and Operation Danube in 1968. In 1979, the regiment was disbanded and used to form the 39th and 40th Separate Air Assault Brigades of the Soviet Army. The 39th Separate Air Assault Brigade became the 224th Training Center after transfer back to the Soviet airborne in 1990. The training center was taken over by Ukraine in 1992 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and became the 6th Separate Airmobile Brigade in 1995. In 1999, the brigade was reorganized into the 80th Airmobile Regiment, part of the 13th Army Corps. In 2013, the regiment was upgraded and became a brigade. The brigade fought in the War in Donbass.

The 80th Airborne Regiment was formed on 3 May 1955 in the Lithuanian SSR, the only non-Guards Soviet airborne regiment. The regiment celebrates its anniversary on 19 December. It originally formed part of the 7th Guards Airborne Division of the Soviet Airborne Forces at Gaižiūnai. The regiment fought in Operation Whirlwind, the Soviet invasion of Hungary, and landed in Budapest on 4 November 1956. In 1959, it transferred to the 104th Guards Airborne Division and was based in Baku. On 22 February 1968, for its achievements in training, the Regiment was awarded the Order of the Red Star. Division headquarters was at Kirovabad (now Gyandzha) in the Azerbaijan SSR. Carey Schofield writes that the 104th Guards Airborne Division "had only two regiments from 1975 to 1980 after the disbandment of the 80th Guards [sic] Airborne Regiment in Baku". In August 1968, the regiment participated in Operation Danube, the crushing of the Prague Spring.