223rd Anti-aircraft Missile Regiment

223rd Anti-aircraft Missile Regiment
223-й зенітний ракетний полк
Active1960 – present
Country Ukraine
Soviet Union Soviet Union (1960–1991)
Allegiance Armed Forces of Ukraine
Branch Ukrainian Air Force
Type Air Defense Troops
RoleAir Defense
SizeBrigade
Part of Air Command West
Garrison/HQStryi, Lviv Oblast
NicknamesUkrainian Sich Riflemen Regiment
Terebovlianska Regiment (formerly)
PatronUkrainian Sich Riflemen
MottoWith the fire of zeal
Engagements
Decorations
For Courage and Bravery
Order of Alexander Nevsky
Commanders
Current
commander
Colonel Ivan Velichko
Insignia
Former Insignia

The 223rd Anti-aircraft Missile Regiment Ukrainian Sich Riflemen is a regiment of the Ukrainian Air Force tasked with air defense operations. It operates Buk M1 next to several western missile systems and is subordinated to the Air Command West. It is headquartered at Stryi.

History

In January 1992, following the Dissolution of the Soviet union, the personnel of the 223rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the 38th Combined Arms Army took an oath of loyalty to Ukraine.

On March 16, 1998, the 223rd brigade was given the honorary name "Terebovlianska".[1]

The 223rd Anti-aircraft Missile Regiment was stationed in Terebovlia, Ternopil Oblast till 2004 when it was relocated to Stryi, Lviv Oblast at the base of the disbanded 25th Anti-aircraft Missile Brigade.[2]

The regiment participated in the War in Donbass. The regiment's personnel saw combat near Hranitne and on 10 October 2018, a soldier of the regiment (Roman Volodymyrovych Magas) was killed as a result of a mine detonation.[3] In November 2018, the 223rd regiment's Buk M1 systems took part in a firing competition in Kherson Oblast with two systems securing the 1st and 2nd places in the competition for which they were awarded 150k and 90k hyrvnias respectively and the regiment was considered the best [4]

On 23 August 2021, the regiment was awarded the honorary title "Ukrainian Sich Riflemen" after the Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, a unit of the Austro-Hungarian Army that saw combat during the World War I and later the Polish–Ukrainian War as a part of Ukrainian People's Army.[5]

Insignia of the 223rd Anti-aircraft Missile Regiment

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the regiment was deployed for combat operations. On 23 April 2022, the regiment was officially granted a new insignia. The regiment took part in the Eastern Ukraine campaign with a soldier of the regiment (Nazar Shved) being killed near Kamainka on 9 May 2022.[6] On 15 June 2022, the regiment was awarded the honorary award "For Courage and Bravery".[7]

The regiment took part in the Battle of Sumy during which on 15 August 15, 2024 a soldier of the regiment (Dmytro Orestovych Yatsyshin) was killed in a Russian rocket attack on the city.[8][9]

Structure

The structure of the regiment is as follows:[10]

  • 553rd Separate Anti-aircraft Missile Division
  • 554th Separate Anti-aircraft Missile Division
  • 556th Separate Anti-aircraft Missile Division

Equipment

Type Image Origin Function Number Note
Surface-to-air missile-Systems
Buk M1  Soviet Union Self-propelled medium-range surface-to-air missile ?
Raven  United Kingdom ASRAAM based mobile anti air vehicle ? Developed by the UK specifically for Ukraine[11] and delivered in 2023[12]
IRIS-T SLS  Germany Short range IRIS-T based system ? Received by Germany from 2023 onward[13]
IRIS-T SLM  Germany Medium Extended Air Defense System ? Received by Germany from October 2022 onward[14]
Radars
TRML-4D  Germany Mobile airspace surveillance radar ? Received by Germany from 2022 onward[15]

Commanders

  • Colonel Serhii Butrymovych (2008–2014)
  • Colonel Oleksiy Tsukanov (2014–2018)
  • Colonel Velichko Ivan Mykhailovych (2018-)[16]

Sources

References

  1. ↑ "Указ Президента України № 195/98 від 16 березня 1998 року «Про присвоєння почесного найменування "Теребовлянська" ордена Олександра Невського 223 зенітній ракетній бригаді 28 корпусу протиповітряної оборони Сил Протиповітряної оборони України»". zakon3.rada.gov.ua/. Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. 1998-03-16. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  2. ↑ "У Теребовлі відновлено військове містечко для розміщення підрозділів артилерійської бригади". 2018-03-12. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  3. ↑ Магас Роман Володимирович Archived 18 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "Десятки пусків зенітних ракет, дослідні випробування та грошові сертифікати". 2018-11-06. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  5. ↑ "Указ Президента України №416/2021". Archived from the original on 25 August 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  6. ↑ «На фронт пішли батько з сином. На жаль, Назара зустрінемо в труні»: загинув Герой із Сколівської громади
  7. ↑ "Про відзначення почесною відзнакою "За мужність та відвагу"". 15 June 2022.
  8. ↑ "Біля Сум загинув Герой зі Львівщини Дмитро Яцишин".
  9. ↑ "На Львівщині 20 серпня попрощаються із десятьма військовими".
  10. ↑ 223 ЗРП на сайті http://ontology.inhost.com.ua
  11. ↑ Fiorenza, Nicholas (2025-05-12). "Ukraine conflict: UK supplies Raven air defence system to Kyiv". Janes.com. Retrieved 2026-03-10.
  12. ↑ "UK to provide hundreds of air defence missiles for Ukraine with money from sanctioned Russian assets". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2026-03-10.
  13. ↑ "Deutschland liefert erstmals Iris-T SLS". Hartpunkt (in German). 16 May 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  14. ↑ "Ukraine erwartet im Oktober erste Iris-T-Lieferung". WirtschaftsWoche (in German). 1 June 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  15. ↑ "Confirmed: Germany has delivered the seventh IRIS-T SLM fire unit to Ukraine". German Aid to Ukraine, Maurice Woitzyk. 13 June 2025. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  16. ↑ "Славна дата. Урочистості з нагоди Дня частини". fortuna-gazeta.com.ua (in Ukrainian). 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2023-01-17.