The 23rd Separate Air Assault Brigade was activated on 25 September 1986 in Kremenchuk as part of the Southwestern Theatre of Military Operations. The brigade was composed of three airborne battalions, an air assault battalion, an artillery battalion and an antiaircraft artillery battalion. On 1 June 1990, the brigade was transferred to the Soviet airborne and redesignated as the 23rd Separate Airborne Brigade after its air assault battalion was disbanded. After the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, the brigade was transferred to Ukraine.