The legendary 17th

To mark Tankman’s Day and the 100th anniversary of the establishment of armored forces, the base of the 17th Independent Kryvyi Rih Armored Brigade saw the ceremonial unveiling of a restored monument to tankmen and this military unit’s memorial steles past Sunday. The steles, set up, incidentally, at the place of the dismantled Lenin monument, display incised information about the legendary armored unit’s 76-year-long combat history as well as the names of its commanders and recipients of the hero’s Golden Star.

The 17th Brigade still remains one of Ukraine’s strongest armored formations, and its personnel proudly continue the glorious wartime traditions. The brigade has seen action in almost all the hot spots of the so-called ATO zone, defending territorial integrity and inviolability of the Ukrainian state from the Russian aggressor’s terrorist troops. In particular, the Kryvyi Rih tankmen’s glorious record includes Ilovaisk, Savur-Mohyla, Debaltseve, Donetsk airport, and many other key points in the battle area. A lot of the brigade’s officers, sergeants, and soldiers have been awarded military orders and medals. Unfortunately, there have also been irreplaceable losses in this bitter fight – 106 servicemen never came back from the battlefield. Now, continuing their sacred mission to defend the native land, the personnel of the 17th Independent Brigade are taking part in the ongoing counter-terrorist operation in Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts.

Representatives of the higher command of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, former commanding officers of the unit, including several generals and many colonels, as well as Kryvyi Rih Mayor Yurii Vilkul, some MPs, representatives of war veterans’ and volunteers’ organizations, military chaplains of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate), and the city’s activists, arrived on this day to greet the tankmen in connection with their double holiday. Incidentally, the city’s administration, nongovernmental and volunteer organizations have considerably helped the brigade to hold celebrations as well as to restore and decorate the memorial and put up the steles. This fruitful cooperation between the city and the tankmen is a tradition now.

Volodymyr Stetsiuk is a Kryvyi Rih-based journalist and blogger