Major Volodymyr Fokin became the new commander of the 125th brigade: he fought with the Russian Federation for 10 years (video)

Volodymyr Fokin received the wish of "strength and new achievements" from servicemen of the 125th OMBr of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, according to a post on the Facebook page of the Brigade Support Center. As the major told Channel 5, he fought with the Russians during the Anti-Terrorist Operation in 2015, then resigned, but returned to the army with the start of a full-scale invasion.

Focus gathered information about how the Lviv 125th Brigade got a new commander and what Volodymyr Fokin was doing before his new appointment. The Lviv 125th brigade received a new commander a few days after Zaxid Net media wrote about the troubles with the repair battalion. Volodymyr Romaniv, a serviceman of the 219th repair battalion, said that his unit was planned to be sent to the front line, although they promised that they would dig trenches on the second and third lines.

Meanwhile, the battalion consists of elderly people with illnesses who cannot do this, Romanov explained. The fighters assured that they are ready to voluntarily leave the unit (go to the SZCH) if the command does not stop sending them to the front. The interlocutor of the journalists explained that the soldiers of the 219th battalion independently set up a workshop for repairing drones, and now a third of the unit seems to be preparing to send the shooters "for meat".

We are talking about 24 people, most of them are over 50 years old. "I'm not on that list, but I, as a father, am in solidarity with my son - we all decided to go to the SZCH," Romanov said a month before the announcement that the Lviv 125th Brigade had a new command. As Suspilne wrote, Volodymyr Fokin headed the 125th brigade, which before him was commanded by Colonel Vadym Bondarenko.

The new commander of Lviv's 125th brigade, Volodymyr Fokin, is a 33-year-old participant of the Revolution of Dignity and a former swimming coach who went to defend Ukraine with the beginning of the hybrid invasion of the Russian Federation in 2014. In a conversation with journalist Natalya Moseichuk, the fighter said that he wanted to make a contact for service in the Armed Forces, but he did not succeed. However, in 2015 he joined the ranks of the National Guard.

After that, he served in the "Azov" battalion of NSU, and in 2017, he was demobilized. In February 2022, Fokin returned to the ranks of the unit and, among other things, together with his comrades held the line of defense in the Kharkiv region. In 2025, the major found himself in the post of deputy commander of the 3rd OShBr for logistics. Since October, the Lviv 125th Brigade has received a new commander, and "Foka" will improve the combat capabilities of the unit.

Note that Focus wrote how Volodymyr Fokin assesses the Russian-Ukrainian war and the situation at the front. In April 2025, the officer, who at that time was the commander of the 1st assault battalion of the 3rd OShBr, warned that the Russians were preparing for an offensive and there was a threat in the Lyman direction. A year ago, in 2024, "Foka" described the battles near Makiivka, Luhansk region: they were trying to recapture the settlement from the enemy.