37th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade
The 37th independent Guards Motor Rifle Don Cossack Budapest Red Banner Order of the Red Star Brigade named after Ye. A. Shchadenko (Russian: 37-я отдельная гвардейская мотострелковая Будапештская Краснознамённая, ордена Красной Звезды Донская казачья бригада имени Е. А. Щаденко) is a mechanised infantry brigade of the Russian Ground Forces (Military Unit Number 69647). It is stationed at Kyakhta in Buryatia, part of the 36th Combined Arms Army of the Eastern Military District. The brigade fought in the War in Donbass and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. History. On 1 June 2009, the 5th  Guards Tank Division became the 37th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, as part of the 2008 Russian military reforms. The 5th Guards Tank Division (Second Formation) itself dated to 1965, and its predecessor 5th Guards Cavalry Corps to 1942. The brigade included more than 200 tracked vehicles and more than 100 wheeled vehicles in 2013. According to 2015 data, the brigade was equipped with 40 T-72B3, 1 T-72BK, 120 BMP-2, 15 MT-LB, 18 BM 2B17-1 Tornado-G, 36 2S3M Akatsiya 152mm howitzers, 18 120mm mortar 2S12 Sani, 6 100 mm MT-12 Rapira, 12 9K114 Shturm-S , 36 BTR-80, 12 BM 9A33BM2(3) Osa, 6 BM 9A34(35) Strela-10, and 6 ZSU 23-4 Shilka. Elements of the brigade fought in the War in Donbass and were located in the Northern operational area in February 2015. The 37th's troops fought in the Battle of Debaltseve during this time, where their heavy equipment and weaponry was crucial to the defeat of Ukrainian forces in the battle. In September 2016, a conscript from the brigade was run over by a Kamaz truck while sleeping during an exercise. A large number of incidents and deaths in the brigade were reported during  the 2010s, including two court cases involving beatings by superiors, suicides, and accidental shootings. Conscripts of the brigade repeatedly complained to the Commissioner for Human Rights of Buryatia regarding extortion by the unit before their demobilization, poor clothing, and inadequate medical care. The brigade was committed to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Elements of the brigade participated in the Kyiv offensive. On 24 March, Ukrainian journalist Roman Tsimbalyuk posted a video showing brigade commander Colonel Yuri Medvedev being evacuated, having being run over by his own troops, reportedly dissatisfied with the 50 percent casualties that the unit suffered. This  was widely repeated by Western intelligence officials as a sign of widespread Russian demoralization during the war. Structure. The brigade includes: