# 164th Radio Technical Brigade (Ukraine)

The 164th Radio Technical Brigade "Slobidska" is a Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Force concerned with radar operations in Kharkiv Sumy, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia Oblast, an area of about 200 thousand square kilometers and a population of eighteen million. It is subordinated to the Air Command East. It is headquartered in Kharkiv.

## History

In 1992, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the 164th Radio Technical Brigade of the Soviet Army swore allegiance to Ukraine becoming a part of its armed forces. On 21 February 2008, the brigade received the Combat Flag.
In 2012, 15 radar units of the brigade and about 500 servicemen of the brigade ensured the security of Euro 2012 by providing radar coverage for air defense purposes.
On 22 March 2012, a unit of the brigade was attacked by armed attackers killing a soldier of the brigade (Berezyuk Volodymyr Volodymyrovych), the brigade's personnel launched a counterattack against the attackers killing one and capturing another who was later sentenced to life in prison.
The brigade, as tasked with radar coverage for Eastern Ukraine and thus was most affected by the War in Donbas as the separatist and Russian forces were operating in the areas under the coverage of the Brigade. On 6 May 2014, the 35D6 radar detection radar of the brigade was attacked by separatists, the weapons of the personnel were confiscated and then the radar was burned by separatists near Sverdlovsk, Ukraine. On 4 June 2014, around three hundred separatists attacked the 2215th Radio Battalion "Luhansk", a part of the 164th Brigade and an engagement took place in which three vehicles of the battalion were destroyed as a warehouse of the battalion caught fire prompting the battalion to surrender, all its equipment was captured but all servicemen remained safe. On 16 June 2014, the 2215th battalion's positions were heavily shelled by Ukrainian Forces "almost" destroying the entire equipment of the battalion. On 21 June 2014, the 755th Separate Radar Company (Avdiivka) was attacked by separatists who demanded its surrender but it refused so they attacked it using large caliber weapons and mortars destroying all its equipment. On 2 July 2014, the positions of the 771st Separate Radar Company were attacked by separatists using four mortars but the attack failed to cause any significant damage or casualties. In September 2014, the brigade received modernized P-18 radar systems to boost detection capabilities for UAVs.
On 24 Match 2015, the 771st Separate Radar Company was again attacked by a separatist sabotage and reconnaissance unit but again failed to cause any significant damage or casualties.
The brigade's personnel defended the Butivka-Donetska mine near Spartak from September 2016 and on 3 April 2017 a soldier of the brigade (Artur Viktorovych Latchenko) was killed near the mine as a result of separatist shelling.
On 17 March 2019, the brigade's personnel were serving in Vodiane when they were attacker by separatists using a variety of weapons followed by a separatist offensive towards theirs positions, however the Ukrainians held their ground and forced the separatists to retreat. In order to provide cover to the retreating separatists, other separatists started shelling with mortars killing a soldier of the brigade (Viktor Vasyliovych Grabar) and wounding three.
On 23 August 2021, the brigade was given the honorary name of "Slobidska".
The brigade participated and saw combat during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 1 March 2022, a female soldier of the Brigade (Yana Olehivna Makarovych) was killed due to wounds she received during the Russian airstrikes on the brigade's positions on 24 February 2022.
On 6 December 2023, the brigade was awarded the honorary award "For Courage and Bravery".
On 18 August 2024, a soldier of the brigade (Shelengivsky Maksym Gennadiyovych) was killed in combat whilst serving on the frontlines.

## Structure

The structure of the brigade is as follows:
* 2315th Radio Engineering Battalion (Rohan)
** 766th Separate Radar Company (Poltava)
** 769th Separate Radar Company (Lozova)
** 770th Separate Radar Company (Borova)
** 764th Separate Radar Company (Okhtyrka)
* 2215th Radio Engineering Battalion (Luhansk)
** 755th Separate Radar Company (Avdiivka)
** 771st Separate Radar Company (Milove)
* 2323rd Radio Engineering Battalion (Mariupol)
** 761st Separate Radar Company (Berdyansk)
* 2316th Radio Engineering Battalion (Zaporizhzhia)
** 757th Separate Radar Company (Ingulets)
** 756th Separate Radar Company (Melitopol)
** 17th Separate Radar Company (Dnipro)

## Commanders

* Colonel Andreev M.K. (1990–1996)
* Colonel Rafalsky Y.I. (1996–1999)
* Colonel Bakumenko B.V. (1999–2005)
* Colonel Petruchyk V.I. (2005–2007)
* Colonel Kovalevsky S.M. (2007–2011)
* Colonel Hrynchak R.M. (2011–2013)
* Colonel Yevtushenko O.V. (2013–2018)
* Colonel Ptashchenko V.V. (2018-)