Ukrainian Armed Forces Operations To Be Featured In Military Textbooks Around The World Have Been Named

Ukraine has redefined the basic principles of warfare.

August 29 marks the Day of Remembrance for the Defenders of Ukraine, established in memory of the Battle of Ilovaisk in August 2014. “Focus” reported on battles involving soldiers of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, which will be included in military textbooks around the world.

The Battle for Kyiv

The Battle for Kyiv raged during the first weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion: from February 24 to April 1–2, 2022. Russian units launched an offensive on the capital from two directions—from Belarus through the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and from the Bryansk Oblast through the Chernihiv and Sumy Oblasts. The Ukrainian Armed Forces units defending the capital included the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade (OMBr) named after the Black Cossacks, the 4th Operational Brigade “Rubezh” of the National Guard of Ukraine, the 80th and 95th Motorized Rifle Brigades, the 101st Separate General Staff Guard Brigade, the SBU’s Special Operations Center “A,” units of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR), and the 112th and 114th Transport Brigades. The operation to defend Kyiv was commanded by the then-commander of the Ground Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi.

In the first hours of the invasion, the Russians attempted to land troops at the Antonov airfield in Hostomel. They were confronted by the 4th Rapid Response Brigade of the National Guard—approximately 200 fighters armed with small arms, “Igla” MANPADS, and a ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun. The troops stopped the airborne assault, which consisted of 34 helicopters and 200–300 Russian paratroopers. Nearby, on adjacent defensive sectors, Ukrainian troops halted columns of tanks stretching along the roads toward Kyiv and fired artillery at them. One of the decisive stages of the defense was the blowing up of the dam in Demidov on the Irpin River, as well as the battles for Moshchun, Bucha, Irpin, and Makarov.

In late March, the Russian Armed Forces made a “goodwill” gesture and withdrew from Kyiv, as well as from the Chernihiv and Sumy regions. Thanks to the successful defense of Kyiv, the Kremlin was unable to carry out its plan for a short-term special operation—designed to last just a few days—to overthrow the Ukrainian government.

Operation “Spider Web”

Operation “Spider Web” took place on June 1, 2025. The special operation was planned and carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), and was led at every stage by the then-head of the SBU, Vasyl Malyuk. The result of “Spider Web” was the damage or destruction of approximately 40 Russian bombers at four airfields in various parts of the Russian Federation: “Olenya” (Murmansk Oblast), “Belaya” (Irkutsk Oblast), “Dyagilevo” (Ryazan Oblast), and “Ivanovo” (Ivanovo Oblast). The aircraft damaged included Tu-95MS, Tu-22M3, Tu-160, and A-50 AWACS.

The preparatory phase of Operation "Web" lasted 1 year, 6 months, and 9 days. The SBU secretly transported a shipment of FPV drones equipped with high-explosive fragmentation charges into Russian territory. The drones were hidden under sliding roofs on prefabricated panel buildings (so-called “pobutovki”). At the appointed time, the buildings were loaded onto trucks and transported along a specific route that passed by Russian military airfields. The active phase took place on August 1, 2025. In the final stage, the roofs of the buildings slid apart, and remotely controlled FPV drones flew out from beneath them; these drones used the Russian communications network and were equipped with software incorporating AI elements.

The Russian Federation’s estimated losses amounted to approximately $7 billion, in addition to the loss of aircraft that are no longer in production. Ukraine demonstrated how, without weapons capable of striking at a range of 700 km, it could strike enemy airfields and destroy military aircraft on the ground.

The Kursk Operation

The Kursk Operation began in August 2024. Several units of the Defense Forces participated in the special operation, taking control of approximately 1,300 square kilometers in the Kursk Oblast of the Russian Federation and capturing the district center of Sudzha, located 10 km from the border.

On August 6, it became known that the Russian Armed Forces’ defensive line had been breached at the border between Ukraine’s Sumy Oblast and Russia’s Kursk Oblast. Information about fighting on Russian territory began circulating online, although preparations had been conducted in complete secrecy: Defense Forces units were informed of the deployment time at the last moment. During the offensive, individual Ukrainian units advanced toward Rylsk, Lgov, Kurchatov, and Kursk. In addition, the air force carried out strikes on bridges across the Seim River to block the movement of Russian troops. To rectify the situation, the Russian Armed Forces command sent approximately 20,000 DPRK troops to the front, who attempted to storm Ukrainian positions. Later, operators from the “Rubicon” center began operating fiber-optic drones in the area. On March 15, 2025, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported its withdrawal from Suzha, while Ukrainian units remained on Russian territory for several more weeks, gradually retreating to the Sumy region.

The Kursk Operation marks the first time Ukraine has extended the war onto Russian territory without a nuclear strike—a threat the Kremlin had constantly raised—according to the Atlantic Council think tank. Part of the Kursk Oblast could have been included in peace negotiations with Russia, where discussions centered on an exchange, for example, for the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that it had captured approximately 900–1,000 Russian soldiers, who were subsequently exchanged for Ukrainian soldiers.

The Kharkiv “Blitzkrieg”

The Kharkiv Offensive (or Slobozhanshchyna Offensive) lasted, approximately, from September 6 to October 2, 2022. The 92nd Mechanized Brigade, the 80th Airborne Brigade, the 25th Airborne Assault Brigade, the 3rd Tank Brigade, the 113th Tank and Armored Brigade, and the KRAKEN special operations unit of the Main Intelligence Directorate participated in the fighting. The offensive was led by Alexander Syrsky, commander of the “Khortytsia” Joint Forces Operation.

Ukrainian units misled the Russian command by conducting counterattacks on the southern sector of the front, while delivering the main strike in the Kharkiv direction. Within a few days, they succeeded in pushing the occupying forces back from Izyum, Balakliya, and Kupiansk. During their retreat, Russian Armed Forces units abandoned a large amount of military equipment and ammunition, which the Ukrainian Armed Forces used in subsequent battles. The enemy was pushed back across the Oskol and Seversky Donets rivers.

As a result, the Ukrainian Defense Forces liberated 12,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory and de-occupied approximately 500 settlements.

The Liberation of Kherson

The operation to liberate Kherson lasted from August through November 11, 2022. Units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine—marines, mechanized brigades, and airborne brigades—took part in the fighting. Ukraine used HIMARS multiple-launch rocket systems and long-range artillery with precision-guided munitions, provided by Western partners, to strike key logistics routes of the Russian Armed Forces. Strikes were carried out against the Antonovsky Bridge and the highway leading to the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, as well as against pontoons and barges that the Russians were using to transport military equipment and personnel. As a result, the bridge was damaged, and the Russian force on the right bank of the Dnieper had its supply lines for resupplying resources completely cut off. In November, the Russian Armed Forces made another “gesture of goodwill”: the enemy withdrew from the right bank of the Kherson region, leaving behind a large amount of military equipment.

The result of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Kherson operation was the liberation of 3,000 square kilometers of the Kherson region and the restoration of control over the only regional capital that the Russian Armed Forces had managed to capture during their initial breakthrough in February 2022.

The Liberation of Zmeiny

The liberation of Zmeiny refers to a series of special operations in 2022 that led to the expulsion of Russian Armed Forces units from the Ukrainian bridgehead in the Black Sea. The island had been under occupation for 126 days and returned to Ukrainian control on June 30, 2022. Special forces units from the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), artillery, units of the Navy and Special Operations Forces (SSO), and the Air Force participated in the operation.

The battles for Snake Island took place in several stages, and there were also several attempts by Ukrainian Defense Forces units to land on the island. The Russians had deployed air defense and electronic warfare systems on the island and were monitoring the situation along the Ukrainian coast. The first assault on Zmeiny took place on May 7, but the Ukrainians retreated. This was followed by systematic artillery and air strikes against Russian military equipment and ships attempting to close in. Prior to that, on April 13, 2022, the missile cruiser *Moskva* was sunk, followed by strikes on landing craft and the tugboat *Vasily Bekh*. The then-head of the Main Intelligence Directorate Kirill Budanov explained that the assault on Zmeiny took place in several stages: first, artillery preparation; then, airstrikes; and finally, follow-up reconnaissance and demining.

Thanks to the success of the Defense Forces, the Russians lost control of the western part of the Black Sea and were deprived of the ability to land troops on the Odessa coast. In addition, Ukraine was able to take advantage of the situation to open a grain corridor, through which Ukrainian grain began to be exported abroad following the conclusion of the grain agreement.

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