92nd Separate Assault Brigade
ORBAT last updated: 06/05/2024
92nd Assault Brigade "Ivan Sirko" is a Ukrainian Brigade with a long history, even taking part in fighting in Iraq. The unit distinguished itself during the ATO and, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, it successfully defended its hometown of Kharkiv. It was later the main mechanized force in the 2022 Kharkiv Oblast counteroffensive and took part in fighting around Bakhmut in early 2023 with one or more of its Battalions holding the “Road of Life” line of communication.
In Summer of 2023 it was reorganized from a "Mechanized Brigade” into an “Assault Brigade” and has since returned to the Bakhmut direction.
Analysis/notes
Following the 2023 reorganization into Assault Brigade, available sources seem to indicate all of its Battalions were restructured into Assault Battalions.
1st Assault Battalion has a relatively heavy social media presence, with its own Instagram page and a widespread public insignia.
This Battalion also integrates an FPV group of uncertain size known as SPC Division (or Simmer Polecats Crew), apparently created by football hooligans.
2nd Assault Battalion “Honey Badger” also enjoys a large social media presence with a Facebook page, website and Telegram channel.
This Battalion has been certainly seen operating BTR-4Es, presumably still employed by the entire Brigade.
In some cases, 2nd Assault Battalion has been confused with its predecessor, 2nd Mechanized Battalion, though this attribution is wrong (as the symbol on the video itself shows Ukrainian letters for “2ShB”, 2nd Assault Battalion).
A Ukrainian word for “Honey Badger” is Медоїд, or Medoid if traslitterated. Thus, this is the same unit and not an additional drone group.3rd Assault Battalion has also been confirmed to use BTR-4Es. Based on available sources, it can be assumed that former 3rd Mechanized Battalion became an Assault Battalion, including its widely known UAV unit “Code 9.2”. However, few sources still exist with a (possibly erroneous) mention of 3rd Mechanized Battalion, so the coexistence of both a 3rd Assault and a 3rd Mechanized Battalion can not be completely ruled out.
Worth mentioning that it seems WarArchive themselves are not certain about this.
Code 9.2 was a drop-focused attack UAV Platoon, recently enlarged into a Company.4th Assault Battalion recently opened its separate Telegram channel, utilize a unique insignia and have been mentioned in various operations since the Brigade’s Assault transition.
5th Assault Battalion has a reduced overall presence, but official Brigade sources and an insignia confirm their existence.
Common Assault Battalion equipment seems to include an amount of BTR-4Es (certainly employed by 2nd and 3rd Assault Battalions, likely by others too), though probably in limited numbers considering many vehicles of this model were transferred to National Guard Brigades in the past months.
In the Brigade’s 120mm mortar arsenal, US-donated M120s have been spotted.
The Brigade also retained the Battalion-level Anti-Tank Platoon, originating from the use of BTRs rather than BMPs, as confirmed by the mention of FGM-148 Javelins and Ukrainian-made Corsar ATGMs in one of the Assault Battalions. Stugna ATGMs are also part of the Brigade’s equipment.
Lastly, ZU-23 Anti-Aircraft guns mounted on Ural trucks have been seen in the Battalions’ Anti-Aircraft Platoons, likely in a counter-drone role.Retained since its initial assignment to the Brigade in 2014, 22nd Motorized Infantry Battalion “Kharkiv” is still a relevant maneuver element of 92nd Assault Brigade.
Of note is the presence of various armored vehicles, including BMP-1s, BTR-82As and MTLBs potentially showing the Battalion is actually Mechanized. These vehicles might be provided by other units in the Brigade, but BMP-1s and BTR-82As have not been seen in other Battalions, so this is unlikely.
It has organic fire support in the form of Mk19 grenade launchers, ATGMs, and some Ural-mounted ZU-23s.The Tank Battalion is largely based on T-64BV tanks, with possibly a few T-64BM2 Bulats still in service.
T-64BVs have been spotted with large additional armor and anti-drone “cope” cages.The Artillery Group is equipped with a wide variety of indirect fire pieces.
These include 2S3 Akatsiya (152mm) howitzers and US-donated M119 (105mm) towed guns.
Another Battalion is based on M109 (155mm) variants, mainly US-donated M109A6 and the only Battery (6 pieces) of Latvian-donated M109A5ÖE.
The 2nd Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion’s 3rd Battery has a specific insignia (uncertain which artillery piece is in use with this specific sub-unit).
The Rocket Artillery Battalion uses BM-21 Grad MLRS.
The Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion is likely based on the same ATGM types as the Anti-Tank Platoons. However, some unit in the Brigade employs D-44 (85mm) towed guns, which may have replaced MT-12 Rapiras in this Battalion.
The Artillery Group’s BUAR (Headquarters and Target Acquisition Battery), largely involved in fires observation along with grenade drops, also has its own insignia.A Reconnaissance Battalion is also part of 92nd Assault Brigade, a unique element considering Ukrainian Brigades doctrinally only have a Recon Company.
This Battalion also seems to be mounted on BTR-4Es, donated Humvees and captured Tigrs. It has a separate YouTube channel.The main Strike UAV element of the Brigade is “Achilles”, which recently expanded to Battalion size (“BUBpAK”) and mostly executes FPV drone attacks.
The Anti-Aircraft Defense Battalion employs 9K35 Strela-10 systems, possibly along with previously mentioned Ural-mounted ZU-23s (and MANPADS).
MEDEVAC operations, ran by the Medical Company, have been executed on Terradyne Gurkha armored vehicles for the past several months.
Additional pieces of equipment used by 92nd Assault Brigade are “Tarhan” (“Cockroach”) remote-mining robots and, possibly, one or multiple rare 2B16 Nona-K mortars.
Additional sources
92nd Mechanized Brigade Facebook, Telegram, MilitaryLand, UA Wikipedia
1st Assault Battalion: Source #1, Source #2, Source #3, SPC Division, erroneously attributed to 3ShB (1ShB symbol)
2nd Assault Battalion: Source #1
3rd Assault Battalion: Code 9.2 video compilation/playlist
4th Assault Battalion
5th Assault Battalion
BTR-4E, BTR-4E
22nd Motorized Infantry Battalion: Source #1, Source #2, w/ flag, BMP-1, Mk19
Tank Battalion: Insignia, w/ patch, T-64BV
Artillery Group: 2S3, M109A6, M109A6
Anti-Aircraft Defense Battery (Anti-Aircraft Defense Battalion)
Sapper Company (Engineer Battalion)