The Separate Artillery Brigade of Special Purpose "Kalmius" (tactical group "Kolchuga," military unit 08802) is one of the oldest artillery formations of the self-proclaimed DPR, operating since 2014 as part of the former 1st Army Corps (now re-formed into the 51st Army) and accused by Ukrainian investigative journalists of systematic shelling of settlements on the contact line.
Смирнов Александр Александрович — Полковник, командир 51-й отдельной бригады армейской авиации
The formation grew out of the "Kalmius" battalion, which took an oath on Lenin Square in Donetsk on June 21, 2014, and already on June 26 stormed military unit 3004 in Donetsk; in autumn 2014, it was re-formed into an artillery brigade ("tactical group 'Kolchuga'"). It participated in the battles for Donetsk Airport, in an ambush near Tonenke on July 16, 2014 (2 BMPs of the 93rd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were hit), in the battles for Savur-Mohyla (late July – early August 2014), and in the offensive on Mariupol, where near Olenivka in August 2014, it suffered its largest single losses from counter-battery fire. In early 2015, it was noted in Dokuchaievsk and participated in the battles for Debaltseve. According to an investigation by the publication "Ukraina Kryminalna," the formation is accused of systematic shelling of civilian objects south and southeast of Donetsk, including a hit on a shuttle bus in the Volnovakha area and shelling of eastern districts of Mariupol, as well as constant fire raids on Dokuchaievsk, Hranitne, Starohnativka, Chermalyk, and Shyrokyne.
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