Battle of Irpin River
This is our premier battle study. We describe the battles concentrated along the Irpin River in February and March 2022. In the opening days of the invasion the Irpin river was one of the last geographic features standing between the Russian army and the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. We describe the order of battle, present an interview driven narrative and timeline, and show the geometry of forces through the use of operational and tactical maps. This is visual-narrative storytelling anchored in field-researched evidence. Battle of Irpin River is the basis for a forthcoming tabletop exercise of the same name, currently in the works.
Published by the Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research, British Army Review, funded by the nonprofit Madison Policy Forum, all rights reserved by the authors, James Sladden, Liam Collins, and Ben Connable
Primary Source Field Research in Ukraine
Multiple field research trips to the battle site over a full year, walking the ground, listening, recording
Obtaining evidence directly from anonymized primary sources and preserving them for analysis
Examining the combat area in the months after the battle - timely but secure research methodology
Spotting precise terrain and incident locations on foot and in vehicles for later triangulation
Ground-Level Perspective of the Fighting
Photos taken by James Sladden of Battle Research Group in Ukraine
Map-Anchored Combat History
Working from our primary-source interviews, battle site investigation, acquisition of digital and material evidence, and then rounding out our research with input from existing, reliable sources, we build a scaled series of battle maps. Smaller scale maps put the battle in its broader context - in this case, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 and the broader Kyiv defensive sector - while the larger scale maps record order of battle, geometry of forces, and movement of forces over time. While these maps are imperfect, they are essential to creating and preserving history.
Interview-Driven Battle Narrative
"I was in my trench when the company commander ran up and shouted, 'Jump on the BMP, we're going to kill Katsaps!' I grabbed a weapon; I didn't have body armor. I had magazines and grenades in my pockets." -Newly mobilized Ukrainian soldier, February 2022
"The enemy managed to get around us from the rear right. Because the right flank was open...they started shouting, 'Give up!' A soldier who heard this immediately opened fire and our soldiers began to throw grenades at them, so the Russians retreated. The enemy was forced to withdraw...because their officer was badly wounded. They did not have a commander, they did not know what to do, so they had to retreat." - Ukrainian soldier fighting at Moshchun in March, 2022
"Some units received training, but we did not. In my company, if a position had a Javelin, one soldier dug a hole and the other watched a YouTube video on how to fire it." - A Ukrainian soldier, February 2022
"The drone operator turned the camera and here are the [video] shots: 200 or 300 [Russian] armored vehicles were already standing in front of the pontoon to cross to Moshchun [over the Irpin River." - Ukrainian civilian at Irpin River