Glorious Intelligence Units

Kryvyi Rih Regional Electronic Intelligence (REI) Center of the Orders of the Red Banner and Red Star “South” stands out among intelligence units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for its heroic history and professional achievements.

The Operational record of the military unit began back in 1931, in Mykolaiv when under the order of the Commander of troops of the Ukrainian Military District the formation of the 5th separate radio company began. Later the 469th separate Special Forces radio division (SF) was formed on the basis of company.

At the beginning of the World War II the division was not far away from Kyshyniv. Because of bloody battles the intelligence officers were forced to retreat to Luhansk, and later on – to Hroznyi.

In September 1942 the personnel of the division was one of the first in the Red Army that brought the experience of using the manoeuvre groups. They were involved in negotiations eavesdropping enemy using a wired connection.

During the first year of the war the signal intelligence units suffered the significant losses of materiel, thus in 1942 one of the main problems of special forces units was the intelligence equipment support.

That time the invention of the division officers played an important role. They found the intercommunications command system (ICS) to control the direction finding. ICS provided the transfer the direction finding directly from the receiving center in a microphone mode to each intelligence radio operator. At the beginning of 1943 the industrial production of ICS started, and later that system became a must-device of the management system of the radio direction finding points.

In September 1942 under the order of the General Staff of the Red Army the 469th separate Special Forces radio division (SF) marched 1000 km to the city of Stalinhrad, where along with other troops it withstood one the most decisive battles of the World War II.

Arrived in Stalinhrad, the intelligence officers of the division quickly understood the situation and successfully exposed the German group that operated before the right flank of the Stalinhrad front. In turn, the manoeuvre group of the division, operated in the interests of the 62nd Soviet Army, carried out an effective reconnaissance of the assault fascists groups directly in the streets of Stalingrad.

From Stalinhrad the division held a glorious operational record to Vienna, participating in towns and the North Caucasus villages liberation from the Nazis, Donbass and the South of Ukraine, Moldova, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Austria.

On February 26, 1944 for providing timely and valuable information on the state and activities of Nikopol enemy group during the liberation of Kryvyi Rih from Nazi invaders, under the order of the Supreme Commander number 042469 the separate radio division was awarded the honorary title “Kryvorizkyi”.

On April 28, 1945 the division was awarded the Order of the Red Star for the exemplary performance of assignments during the liberation of cities in Hungary. One of the main reasons for awarding the intelligence officers was the exposing of the fascists’ preparation division to a strong counterattack on the Soviet troops from the Lake Balaton district.

On May 9, 1945 the personnel of the battalion was near Vienna.

During the World War II the personnel of the division was awarded a significant number of state awards, including such orders as: Lenin (two officers), Red Flag (7 officers), World War 1st class (one officer), World War 2nd class (11 officers), Red Star (73 officers, 10 NCOs), Glory 3rd class (1 officer, 1 sergeant).

After the war, on the basis of the 469th separate Special Forces radio division (SF) there was created the separate signal regiment (SF), which later was reorganized into the 93rd separate signal brigade (SF).

In 1981 the 93rd separate signal brigade of SF was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for the execution of prime importance tasks.

After Ukraine gained independence the 93rd separate signal brigade (SF) was reformed more than once and the personnel of the brigade always executed its tasks professionally.

In 2002 on the basis of the 93rd separate signal brigade (SF) there was established the Regional Electronic Intelligence Center “South”. The personnel of the center was awarded by the Armed Forces command of Ukraine more than once.

Nowadays owing to professional skill, exemplary service of and service loyalty of every soldier, the Regional Electronic Intelligence Center “South” occupies a noteworthy place among intelligence units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.