Russian servicemen from the 217th Guards Airborne Ivanovo Regiment, commanded by Georgy Yanchev, are stationed in the area around occupied Oleshky, on the Russian-occupied left bank of Kherson Oblast. Slidstvo.Info has identified the soldiers who carried out combat missions in the city throughout 2026.
This was reported by Slidstvo.Info.
In addition to the 126th Brigade and the 331st Regiment, which Slidstvo.Info previously reported on, the 127th Separate Reconnaissance Brigade, the 215th Separate Army Reconnaissance Battalion and the 217th Guards Airborne Ivanovo Regiment are also stationed in the area around occupied Oleshky. At the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the latter unit took part in the battles for Kyiv, and in 2024–2025, it fought near Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast.
Command of the 217th Airborne Regiment
The commander of the 217th Guards Airborne Regiment is 50-year-old Georgy Yanchev. As of September 2025, he held the rank of colonel.
According to a CV published in 2010, Yanchev graduated from the Engineering Faculty of the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School with a qualification in the operation and maintenance of wheeled and tracked vehicles. He has served in the Russian Armed Forces since August 1993.
In August 2025, Yanchev said in a video for the Russian Ministry of Defence that assault troops from the 217th Airborne Regiment who had taken part in the battles for Chasiv Yar had been sent to an area to restore their combat readiness. By that point, he was already serving as the regiment’s commander.
“After completing their mission, they arrive at an area where they restore their combat readiness, rest and get themselves back into shape. After that, training begins again. On average, training lasts 20 days, and then they move on to their next mission,” he said.
Georgy Yanchev has a wife, Olena, and three children: 23-year-old Valeriia, 17-year-old Varvara and 14-year-old Stepan. The family lives in Samara. According to information from Olena Yancheva’s social media accounts, before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she worked in event decoration. After 2022, she began regularly attending performances by the Airborne Forces Song and Dance Ensemble.
Russian Military Personnel Enforcing the Blockade of Oleshky
Slidstvo.Info found “Information Bulletins” intended for servicemen of Russia’s 98th Airborne Division. The division includes, among others, the 331st and 217th Airborne Regiments, which are currently stationed in the area around occupied Oleshky.
Every week, these bulletins report on the “achievements” of Russian servicemen who have distinguished themselves through “courage and heroism”. This helped Slidstvo.Info identify the Russian occupiers carrying out combat missions under orders from their commanders in the city itself and its surrounding areas.
One of these Russian “heroes” was Senior Lieutenant Sergei Aleksashkin of the 217th Airborne Regiment, under whose command an assault company conducted an offensive near the Antonivskyi Bridge over the Dnipro River between December 2025 and February 2026. According to the bulletin, the Russian troops captured a Ukrainian defensive position, destroyed four firing positions and killed seven Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers.
Meanwhile, most of the servicemen were featured in the bulletins for organising the delivery of ammunition, boats or provisions to the front line. Lieutenant Igor Chopchyts, however, “distinguished himself” on 21 June by completing a task involving the preparation of a section of a route for the deployment of a mobile obstacle-laying group.
A Slidstvo.Info journalist called Chopchyts to ask about his “achievements”, but he refused to speak without authorisation from his superiors:
Journalist: I wanted to speak to you about Oleshky.
Chopchyts: You’re asking the wrong person, miss.
Journalist: But you’re currently deployed in that area, aren’t you? Am I right in understanding that you’re currently on the Kherson front?
Chopchyts: You’re asking the wrong person.
Journalist: Who can I contact, then?
Chopchyts: Only my superiors.
According to Slidstvo.Info’s sources, the 217th Regiment is currently withdrawing from the Kherson front and redeploying to the Zaporizhzhia front.
