37th Marine Brigade

The brigade was formed on January 12, 2023, as part of an expansion of the Ukrainian Naval Infantry, which also saw the creation of four other new marine brigades. The 37th was established from a battalion of the 79th Air Assault Brigade and veteran officers from the 36th Marine Brigade. The unit has been outfitted with a mix of both new western-supplied equipment and old soviet stockpiles. This includes Canadian Roshel Senators, British Mastiffs, French AMX-10 RCs, and old soviet towed artillery and small arms.^[1]

The unit was first reported in active combat in Novodonetske, a front-line settlement in the southern Donetsk Oblast. It engaged the DNR Militia's Vostok Battalion on June 3. Without armored support, the Brigade used an intricate web of artillery cover fire to move its troop transports to attack positions close to Russian forces, then returned beyond Russian artillery range. During the opening of the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive, the unit advanced slowly and consistently in the region.^[2]

Since the 36th Marine Brigade originated as a loyal Ukrainian element during the Russian occupation of Crimea, Western media have speculated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces intend to use the 37th—as well as the other four other new marine brigades—to launch a naval invasion of the Crimean peninsula, should southern Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts be liberated.^[1]