197th Territorial Defense Battalion

197th Rifle Battalion was a unit of the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine. It was originally established in 2018 as a territorial defense battalion of the 124th Territorial Defense Brigade, with its designated garrison in Henichesk, Kherson Oblast. The unit existed largely on paper until early 2022.

On 18 January 2022, Major Andrii Balaiev, a veteran of the war in Donbas, was appointed commander of the battalion, after which active recruitment and organization of the unit began.

The battalion’s establishment received limited support from local authorities in Henichesk. The city council designated a former kindergarten, which had been abandoned for nearly 30 years, as the unit’s permanent garrison. The public organization Pereselenets-SOS accused the city council, then controlled by the pro-Russian Opposition Platform party, of obstructing the battalion’s deployment and alleged that local officials were cooperating with Russian interests.

By February 2022, the battalion had reached approximately 70 percent of its authorized strength.

In late 2024, the unit operated under the command of the 79th Air Assault Brigade.

In 2025, the battalion was disbanded, and its remaining personnel were transferred to the 426th Unmanned Systems Regiment of the 30th Marine Corps.