125th Heavy Mechanized Brigade

125th Heavy Mechanized Brigade is a unit of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.

The brigade was formed in March 2022 as the 125th Territorial Defense Brigade in Lviv Oblast, following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It was raised by volunteers from the city of Lviv and neighboring areas. This made it the second Territorial Defense Brigade to be raised in Lviv Oblast, alongside the 103rd.

Originally, the brigade consisted of the 215th, 216th, 217th, 218th, and 219th Territorial Defense Battalions, all of which were formed alongside the brigade as separate formations. After its formation, it would go on to see combat throughout the summer of the first year of the full-scale invasion, participate in the defence of Bakhmut, and also defend the Kreminna sector.

In July 2024, the brigade was transferred to the Ukrainian Ground Forces alongside two other Territorial Defense Brigades. Around a year later, it would later become the 125th Heavy Mechanized Brigade and eventually be structurally assigned to the 3rd Army Corps. Following the reformation of the brigade as a heavy mechanized structure, the separate battalions that were formed alongside the brigade were reformed, ceasing to exist as separate entities, but instead were linearized, streamlining their integration structurally into the brigade.

In October 2025, Major Volodomyr Fokin, the former deputy commander of the 3rd Assault Brigade and the former commander of the 1st Assault Battalion of the brigade, was appointed to take charge of the brigade and bring it up to scratch with the standards and tactics of the legendary 3rd Assault Brigade.

On November 30, 2025, it was confirmed that soldiers of the 3rd Assault Company of the 1st Assault Battalion, and Fokin himself, had helped to form the backbone of the formation. On December 2, 2025, it was announced that the brigade was undergoing a significant transformation, with its 1st Rifle Battalion, formed on the basis of the 218th Territorial Defense Battalion was being disbanded.

Other crucial assets, such as a Tank Battalion, a Self-Propelled Artillery Division, an Artillery Reconnaissance Unit, and other elements, such as rebuilding the Unmanned Systems Battalion from scratch, establishing a C2 Section in the brigade headquarters, and reorganizing and creating a Repair & Restoration Battalion and an Electronic Warfare Company, respectively.

Insignia

The insignia features a chevron with a yellow border. In the center of the insignia is a Ruthenian lion, commonly associated with heraldry and culture in western Ukraine, and a castle gate behind it. The symbology is a homage to the home where the brigade was formed in Lviv Oblast.