by DAVID AXE
In late 2024, the Ukrainian army began breaking up and reorganizing its five tanks brigades. Acknowledging that tank brigades almost never fought as brigades, but instead chopped their battalions to fight alongside various infantry formations, the army reduced the number of tanks in each tank brigade, gave those tanks to infantry units and redesignated the now lighter tank brigades as “heavy mechanized brigades.”
The new heavy mechanized brigades are, like other units, struggling to source vehicles. That’s the main takeaway when observer Stevius scrutinized official photos from the new 29th Heavy Mechanized Brigade, which has been slowly forming since last year.
The photos depict some of the vehicles in service with the brigade, which supports the 14th Army Corps defending Ukraine’s northern border in Kharkiv Oblast.
