The brigade was created as a result of the disbandment of the 104th Guards Airborne Division in 1998 at Ulyanovsk. Between 1999 and 2001, the brigade fought in the Second Chechen War. For their actions during the war, Senior lieutenants Grigory Galkin and Roman Igoshin were awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation. Since 2005, the brigade has used a contract manning system. On 1 December 2006, it was redesignated as an air assault brigade. A battalion tactical group of the brigade fought in the Russo-Georgian War in 2008. A monument to Army General Vasily Margelov is located at the brigade's base in Ulyanovsk. In April 2010, VDV commander Vladimir Shamanov visited the brigade and viewed its battalion tactical exercises. The brigade was part of the Collective Rapid Reaction Force as of 2013. In February 2014, elements of the brigade were sent to Crimea. Brigade troops assaulted the building of Crimean Parliament, wearing Ukrainian "Berkut" police uniforms and insignia. In August 2014 the brigade's units fought in the Battle of Ilovaisk. On 26 August a column of mixed 8th Mountain Brigade and 31st Air Assault Brigade units was ambushed by a Ukrainian anti-tank artillery squad of the 51st Mechanized Brigade near Mnohopillya village. Two soldiers of 31st Brigade were captured: Ruslan Akhmetov and Arseniy Ilmitov. During a rescue attempt, another 31st Brigade unit was ambushed. Nikolai Kozlov, a paratrooper who participated in the Crimean Parliament building takeover in February, lost his leg in the ambush. After Russian "RBK" media had published an investigation where it assumed Akhmetov and Ilmitov were killed in the battle of Ilovaisk, notorious "Lifenews" media made a TV report, where it visited brigade's garrison in Ulyanovsk and spoke to both Akhmetov and Ilmitov proving they're alive and are actual servicemen of the Russian army. During the Ukrainian forces' withdrawal from Ilovaisk on August 29, Donbas Battalion fighters were able to capture two soldiers of the 31st Air Assault Brigade near Chervonosilske village: Nikita Terskikh and Eugen Sardaryan, as well as some soldiers of 6th Tank Brigade. On 4 June 2015, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced that the 104th Guards Airborne Division would be reformed from the brigade. In March 2016, the brigade temporarily moved from its base at Ulyanovsk to Orenburg in snap readiness drills.
