The 103rd Separate Territorial Defense Brigade, named after Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky (103rd OBrTrO), is a formation of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces. Founded in 2018 and based in Lviv Oblast, it operates under the Western Regional Directorate of the Territorial Defense Forces.
Mission
- Defending assigned lines and preventing enemy breakthroughs
- Conducting offensive operations on enemy-held territory
- Guarding and securing Ukraine’s state border
- Training personnel to modern combat standards
Structure
The brigade consists of five separate territorial defense battalions, a reconnaissance company, an anti-aircraft battery (“Puhach”), two unmanned systems battalions (“Black Swift” and “Bird of Prey”), and an unmanned aerial systems group (“Wings to Hell”), alongside brigade headquarters.
Command
The brigade was commanded by Colonel Mykola Androshchuk from 2018 and by Colonel Valeriy Kurko from 2022.
Colonel Ihor Bondarenko
He joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine well before the full-scale invasion. In 2014, as a major in the 80th Separate Airmobile Brigade, he took part in the defense of Luhansk Airport — one of the fiercest battles of the early phase of the war in Donbas. That experience, he says, taught him the fundamentals: a soldier must be well-trained, take initiative, and rely on their brothers-in-arms. Those are the principles he applies today in preparing the units of the 103rd OBrTrO.
Source: an officer’s account of the defense of Luhansk Airport, polukr.net (in Ukrainian)
Combat History
Since March 2022 the brigade has held combat positions in Donetsk Oblast, defending its lines and preventing the enemy from crossing the Siverskyi Donets River. In September 2022, during the Kharkiv counteroffensive, its units liberated Ozerne, Dibrova, and Yampil, later holding defensive lines in the Kupiansk direction. Since 2024, brigade units have secured and guarded the state border in Sumy Oblast, and since August 2024 have taken an active part in offensive operations in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. In September 2022 the brigade was presented with its Battle Flag, and in August 2024 it received the honorary name of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky (page in Ukrainian).
Culture and Traditions
Historical memory, brotherhood, cohesion, and a commitment to victory are the values that shape the brigade’s spirit.
Insignia
The sleeve insignia depicts a golden Galician lion beneath fortress battlements on a blue field — a symbol of the military traditions of the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia, inherited by the soldiers of the 103rd Separate Brigade.
Source: official website of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces, tro.mil.gov.ua (in Ukrainian). Used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.