Exploring the Battle of the Urban River: Research Challenges and Motivations

In this episode, we discuss:

*The timeline of major events of the Battle for the Irpin

*Three occasions where the Russians nearly won the battle

*The role of Ukrainian volunteers and civilians

*The role of small unit leaders

*The artillery fight 

*The challenges of researching and writing operational military history

*James and Ben’s research approach 

*The lack of government support in the US and UK for on-the-ground conflict research

*The value of stories to the military profession

*How the battle study can be used for training and educational

Links

"The Battle of Irpin River" by James Sladden, Liam Collins, and Ben Connable

https://chacr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/BAR-187-compressed.pdf

"Battle Studies: The Need for Primary Source Research" by Ben Connable and James Sladden

https://chacr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CHACR-Briefing-Ukraine.pdf

"On the Ground: Field Research in Ukraine" by James Sladden

https://issuu.com/chacr_camberley/docs/idb-ukraine