In August 2014 the brigade's units fought in the Battle of Ilovaisk. On 26 August, during a fight near Ahronomichne village, a T-72B3 tank of the 1st Company of the brigade's 3rd Battalion was captured by troops of the Ukrainian 51st Mechanized Brigade. During the Ukrainian forces' withdrawal from Ilovaisk on 29 August, Donbas Battalion fighters were able to seize and destroy another two brigade T-72B3 tanks near Chervonosilske village, capturing two prisoners: Ivan Badanin and Eugen Chernov, as well as some paratroopers of the 31st Air Assault Brigade.