A Recipe for Disaster. How General Syrski and the Ukrainian General Staff Defended the Yanchurian River Line in the Hulyaipolsky Direction.
When, in early September 2025, units of the Russian General Staff "Vostok" began approaching Hulyaipolsky from the east, I reassured everyone in my posts about this direction and in the comments below. I wrote at the time that the Ukrainian XX Corps was withdrawing because it was only conducting delaying operations ahead of its main defense line, based on the western bank of the Yanchurian River along the Danylivka-Uspenivka-Poltavka-Malynivka section.
"No one will commit large forces to defensive operations with the river behind them. On its western side, the Ukrainians already have a prepared defense line," I wrote at the time. As it turned out, I was completely wrong. I overestimated General Syrski and the Ukrainian General Staff. Nothing was prepared or organized on the Yanchurian River line in early September. Instead of fresh Ukrainian troops standing and waiting for the approaching Russians in previously constructed field fortifications, only the wind howled across the empty steppe.
The Yanchurian River may not be a particularly favorable natural frontier. For a long stretch, it flows in a relatively narrow, shallow valley—though in a bed with rather steep banks—acting as a natural moat and anti-vehicle ditch. Its valley widens gently, "dissolving" into the surrounding steppe, in two places: near the villages of Poltavka and Uspenivka. It was therefore obvious that the Russian command of the Vostok General Staff would seek favorable locations there to cross the river and establish a bridgehead on the western bank. The Ukrainian Border Guard and the Supreme Command should pay special attention to these defensive sectors: prepare the fortifications and man them well in advance with fresh, valuable units, so that their soldiers and commanders could thoroughly familiarize themselves with the surrounding area. In military terminology, this is called "establishing a unit in the field." Centuries ago, it was discovered that this positively impacts defense stability.
What did the Ukrainian Border Guard and Supreme Command prepare to defend the line of the Janczur River near Poltavka look like in practice? When, in the first half of September, the Russian 127th Rifle Division, the first unit of the "Vostok" Army, reached the river near this village, the Ukrainian Border Guard and Supreme Command suddenly awoke from their slumber and began preparations, already delayed by then, to secure Poltavka from the Steppe-Levadne direction, which appeared to be improvisational. On September 10, at their command, elements of the 125th "Heavy" Infantry Brigade were dispatched to the area. It is unclear why this particular unit was chosen. It appears to have been simply because they were readily available, although many indications suggest they lacked sufficient combat readiness to undertake the task outlined in their orders.
In the first half of September 2025, units of the 125th Heavy Mech Brigade were stationed in the Lviv region, where, from the beginning of August, they had been conducting a largely feigned reorganization. According to the description, the goal was supposedly to transform the former 125th OT Brigade into a heavy mech brigade with two tank battalions, two mech battalions, and a rifle battalion. In reality, throughout August, only a change in organizational structure occurred: the former 215th and 216th OT Battalions were merged into the 1st Mech Battalion, the 217th and 219th Battalions were merged into the 2nd Mech Battalion, and the 218th Battalion became the 1st Rifle Battalion. This concealed the fact that individual OT battalions actually had the strength of company battle groups, while the entire former OT brigade had the strength of a half-brigade. By September, the 125th Brigade had received neither recruits to supplement its personnel nor any heavy combat equipment (infantry vehicles or tanks). It remained a light infantry unit equipped only with wheeled vehicles: pickup trucks and Hummers. Ultimately, the 2nd Mech Battalion (formerly the 217th/219th Infantry Battalion) and the 1st Rifle Battalion (formerly the 218th Infantry Battalion) were dispatched to Zaporizhzhia.
When the transfer of the 125th Brigade units to the Poltavka area was completed on September 15th, it turned out that their commanders and soldiers had only one day to familiarize themselves with the terrain for future combat operations and the situation on this section of the front, as the 114th Rifle Regiment (ZMOT) of the 127th Division was already approaching the village from the east. At the same time, in a completely incomprehensible decision, the Ukrainian Supreme Command—instead of creating the "Poltavka" tactical group from these battalions under joint command, subordinated to a single higher tactical unit—decided that the battalions of the same brigade, defending the same area, would be placed under the control of two different commands: the 1st Rifle Battalion was subordinated to the 110th Rifle Brigade, and the 2nd Mech Battalion to the 102nd Tactical Brigade. The reason for such an irrational decision will remain one of Syrski's mysteries. However, I am convinced that such foolishness was not taught at the Higher Military Command School in Moscow, from which Syrski graduated in 1986.
The effects of creating this completely illogical, thoughtless organization for the defense of the Poltava region were not long in coming. I described this in more detail in a post two days ago. You can find it at this link: x.com/Thorkill65/sta…
In short, on September 19-20, the 1st Battalion of Riflemen