51st Mechanized Brigade ( Ukraine ) The 51st Mechanized Brigade is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces , stationed at Volodymyr - Volynskyi in Volyn Oblast , on the border with Poland . The Brigade drawns its history from the 51st Guards Rifle Division , which was formed from the 76th Rifle Division mid way through the Second World War . In late 1942 the 76th Rifle Division decimated the German force holding and protecting Kletskaya , a key industrial city with numerous metal works factories . For it , the division was promoted to Guards ( Советская Гвардия ) status on November 23 , 1942 and became known as the 51st Guards Rifle Division . Stalingrad , Kursk , the Baltic : 1943 – 1945 . In November 1942 , the newly renamed Division was sent back to Stalingrad where it helped encircle and trap the attacking German 6th and 4th Panzer Armies during Operation Uranus . For its participation in the battle of Stalingrad , the unit was decorated with the Order of Lenin . In the summer of 1943 , it was sent to complement tanks and other armored vehicles during the Battle of Kursk in Ukraine , once again retaking the cities of Belgorod and Bogodouqovye . From Kursk , the division was sent northward to push back German Army Groups Center and North . Under the command of General Ivan Bagramyan , the 1st Baltic Front commander , it liberated the Belorussian cities of Vitebsk and Polotski . Continuing its advance to the west , the 51st Guards Division took part in pushing Army Group North out of the former Soviet republics the Soviet Union had annexed in 1940 , Latvia and Lithuania . Its sacrifice and courage in recapturing Vitebsk were recognized as it was bestowed with the honorary title of " Vitebskyan " in October 1944 . One of the division ' s artillerymen Aramais Sarkisyan was killed in combat in Belorussia on June 25 , 1944 and was recognized as a Hero of the Soviet Union , the highest honorary title for individuals in the Soviet Union . In the Latvian province of the Courland Peninsula was the final bastion of Army Group Courland . Despite repeated attempts to take the region , the German units resisted and successfully fended off Red Army offensives . In May 1945 , the 51st Division was sent to Courland where it managed to isolate the forces remaining at the peninsula . On May 8 , 1945 the remainder the garrison surrendered . The 51st division passed through approximately 7 , 000 kilometers of former Soviet territory and liberated over 600 towns and cities from the Axis occupying forces . Twenty - one men in the division were recognized as Heroes of the Soviet Union . The division ' s final wartime honorary title was ' 51 Guards Rifle Vitebsk Order of Lenin , Red Banner Division Armenian in the name of Voroshilov . ' Postwar . The 51st Guards MRD ( first formation ) was formed after the Second World War from the 51st Guards Rifle Division but disbanded in the late 1950s in the Baltic Military District . Its honours and awards were taken over by the 29th Guards Rocket Division of the Strategic Rocket Forces . In late 1947 the 15th Guards Rifle Division was relocated from the Austrian city of Vladimir - Volyn and Lyuboml . In the postwar years the unit ' s soldiers helped civilians rebuild postwar economy , harvest , were involved in the construction of irrigation systems in the Kuban and the Crimea . In September 1965 , an Order of the Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union commemorating the 51st Guards Rifle Division , which staunchly took the first blows the German - Soviet war , the 15th Guards Rifle Division was given the number " 51 " and the honorary title of " Perekopskaya " , becoming the 51st Guards Motor Rifle Division ( second formation ) . It remained as part of the 13th Army in the Carpathian Military District since the late 1940s ( when it was reassigned from the disbanding Fifth Guards Army ) until the fall of the Soviet Union . In 1988 the division comprised the 170th Tank Regiment , 44th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment , 47th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment , 50th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment , 43rd Guards Artillery Regiment , and 59th Anti - Aircraft Rocket Regiment , plus smaller units . On January 19 , 1992 personnel of the division took the oath of allegiance to the Ukrainian people . After the fall of the Soviet Union , during the 1990s , the 13th Army was redesignated the 13th Army Corps . On September 17 , 1999 in the framework of the 800th anniversary of the Volyn - Galician Principality and to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Division received from the President of Ukraine , Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma Battle Flag and the honorary title of " Volyn " ( Ukaz No . 1193 / 99 ) . Some 400 reservists will be added to the brigade ' s personnel in time of war to bring troop numbers up to war time strength . The median age of the reserves , which in 2005 consisted of 440 officers , sergeants , and soldiers , is 25 – 30 years old .