Armed Forces of Ukraine

Armed Forces of Ukraine
Збройні сили України (Ukrainian)
Emblem of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Flag of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Founded	29 March 1917 (1917-03-29)
Current form	6 December 1991 (1991-12-06)
Service branches	Ground Forces Air Force Navy Air Assault Forces Special Operations Forces
Headquarters	Ministry of Defence Building, Povitroflotskyi Square, Kyiv
Leadership
Supreme Commander-in-Chief	Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Minister of Defence	Oleksii Reznikov
Commander-in-Chief	Valerii Zaluzhnyi
Personnel
Military age	18
Conscription	12–18 months (depending on branches)
Available for military service	11,149,646, age 16–49 (2015)
Fit for military service	6,970,035, age 16–49 (2015)
Reaching military age annually	470,406 (2021)
Active personnel	245,000 (2022)
Reserve personnel	220,000 (2022)
Deployed personnel	40,114 (2021)
Expenditures
Budget	₴136 billion €4.6 billion (2020)
Percent of GDP	3% (2020)
Industry
Domestic suppliers	Ukroboronprom (Ukrainian Defence Industry)
Foreign suppliers	European Union NATO Australia Canada China Czech Republic France Georgia Israel Japan Lithuania Poland Turkey United Kingdom United States
Related articles
History	Ukrainian–Soviet War Polish–Ukrainian War 1992–94 Crimean crisis Kosovo Force UNAMSIL Tuzla Island conflict ISAF Iraq War ONUCI Operation Ocean Shield MONUSCO 1999 East Timorese crisis Operation Atalanta Russo-Ukrainian War Pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine Annexation of Crimea War in Donbas 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Ranks	Military ranks of Ukraine

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Збройні сили України [ЗСУ]; Zbroini syly Ukrainy, [ZSU]) are the military forces of Ukraine. They are the principal deterrent force against any aggression that could be shown against the sovereign state of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rada parliamentary commission.

Ukraine's armed forces are composed of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, the Ukrainian Air Force, the Ukrainian Navy, the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces and the Special Operations Forces. Ukraine's navy maintains its own small Ukrainian Naval Infantry force, as well as its own Ukrainian Naval Aviation force. The Ukrainian Sea Guard is the coast guard service of Ukraine, but it is part of the Border Guard Service and not subordinate to the navy.

As a result of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine in 2014, the president commissioned the governors of oblasts of Ukraine to create volunteer units under the government's Territorial Defense Forces. Initially, these units received minimal funding from regional budgets and mostly relied on donations. In November 2014, most of the territorial defense battalions were integrated into the Ukrainian Ground Forces. The National Guard of Ukraine serves as a paramilitary reserve component of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Following hostilities with Russia in 2014, Ukraine increased the size of its armed forces to 204,000 soldiers (+46,000 civil servants), not counting additional forces such as the border guards (53,000), the newly formed National Guard of Ukraine (60,000) or the security service. The current size of Ukraine's armed forces, which consists of 250,000 (215,000 military personnel), makes it the second largest in the region after the Russian Armed Forces. In 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered an increase in the size of the forces by 100,000 by 2025, while ending conscription in 2024. Conscription will be replaced with short-term intensive military training.

Military units of other countries have participated regularly in multinational military exercises with Ukrainian forces in Ukraine. Many of these exercises have been held under the NATO co-operation program Partnership for Peace.

History

See also: Ukrainian People's Army

The formation of the national armed forces in the modern sense dates back to the beginning of the twentieth century and coincides with the formation of the modern Ukrainian nation. In official historiography, this period is referred to as the "Ukrainian War of Independence" or the "First Liberation Struggle." This process coincided with the end of the First World War and the subsequent collapse of the great European empires that had been formed during the previous centuries. The forerunner of this process was the formation of national military formations in the Imperial and Royal Armies of Austria-Hungary, namely the Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, based on the formation of which were Ukrainian paramilitary organizations in Galicia: Sich Sports and Fire Brigade, «Sokil» and the national scout organization «Plast».

After the upheavals of the World War I and on the verge of the collapse of empires, the Ukrainians made another attempt to restore statehood. As part of the growing disintegration in the ranks of the Russian Imperial Army, the process of forming national units began. After the Bolshevik coup, this process immediately resulted in a hybrid war with Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and Whites. Already during the undeclared war, the Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic was formed, but its formation was interrupted by the German administration and continued in a limited form after the establishment of the Hetmanate. During the time of Pavlo Skoropadskyi's Ukrainian State, the development of the national armed forces was continued. The Armed Forces of the Ukrainian state were developed with a more systematic approach than previous attempts, although previous developments were used in this process, but many mistakes were also made. This eventually resulted in the Anti-Hetman Uprising and the reorientation of the Central Powers, which lost World War I in an attempt to reconcile with the Entente, which in turn was inclined to support the White Guard movement and the "single and indivisible" Russian Empire as its original ally.

Simultaneously with these events, after the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917, numerous military formations were formed on Ukrainian lands, including detachments of the Free Cossacks, Father Makhno's Ukrainian Insurgent Army, and the Bolshevik Red Cossacks. The latter became the basis of the puppet armed forces of the UkrSSR, and after the occupation of the Ukrainian People's Republic were included in the Red Army. After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, the Ukrainian Galician Army came to the defense of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic, based on the formation of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen of the former Austro-Hungarian Army.

During World War II, Ukrainians tried to regain independence and organized armed units and formations, including the UIA, but all of them were destroyed by Soviet authorities within a few years after the war, and Ukrainians were again forced to serve in the Soviet Army.

Origins of the post-1992 Ukrainian Armed Forces

As of 1992, the Ukrainian Armed Forces were completely inherited from the Soviet Union, in which Ukraine had been a member state (a union republic). Like other Soviet republics, it did not possess its own separate military command, as all military formations were uniformly subordinated to the central command of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Administratively, the Ukrainian SSR was divided into three Soviet military districts (the Carpathian Military District, Kyiv Military District, and Odesa Military District). Three Soviet air commands and most of the Black Sea Fleet naval bases were located on the coast of Ukraine.

When the collapse of the Soviet Union took place in 1991 (see Novo-Ogaryovo process), the newly independent state of Ukraine inherited one of the most powerful force groupings in Europe. According to an associate of the Conflict Studies Research Centre, James Sherr: "This grouping, its inventory of equipment and its officer corps was designed for one purpose: to wage combined arms, coalition, offensive (and nuclear) warfare against NATO on an external front". At that time, the former Soviet armed forces in the Ukrainian SSR included a rocket army (43rd Rocket Army), four air-force armies, an air-defense army (8th Air Defence Army), three regular armies, two tank armies, the 32nd Army Corps, and the Black Sea Fleet. Altogether the Armed Forces of Ukraine included about 780,000 personnel, 6,500 tanks, about 7,000 combat armored vehicles, 1,500 combat aircraft, and more than 350 ships. Along with their equipment and personnel, Ukraine's armed forces inherited the battle honors and lineage of the Soviet forces stationed in Ukraine. However, due to the deterioration of Russian-Ukrainian relations and to the continued stigma of being associated with the Soviet Union, in 2015 the President of Ukraine ordered the removal of most of the citations awarded to the Ukrainian units during the Soviet era.

On 26 February 1991, a parliamentary Standing Commission for Questions of Security and Defense was established. On August 24, 1991, the Ukrainian parliament (the Verkhovna Rada), in adopting the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, also enacted a short resolution "About military formations in Ukraine". This took jurisdiction over all formations of the armed forces of the Soviet Union stationed on Ukrainian soil and established one of the key agencies, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. On 3 September 1991, the Ministry of Defence commenced its duties. On 22 October 1991 units and formations of the Soviet Armed Forces on Ukrainian soil were nationalized. Subsequently, the Supreme Council of Ukraine adopted two Laws of Ukraine on December 6, 1991, and Presidential Ukase #4 "About Armed Forces of Ukraine" on December 12, 1991. The government of Ukraine surrendered any rights of succession to the Soviet Strategic Deterrence Forces (see Strategic Missile Troops) that were staged on the territory of Ukraine. Recognizing the complications of a smooth transition and seeking a consensus with other former members of the Soviet Union in dividing up their Soviet military inheritance, Ukraine joined ongoing talks that started in December 1991 regarding a joint military command of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Inherent in the process of creating a domestic military were political decisions by the Ukrainian leadership regarding the country's non-nuclear and international status. Among these were the definition, agreement, and ratification of the 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) which not only established the maximum level of armament for each republic of the former USSR, but also a special ceiling for the so-called CFE "Flank Region". Included in this region were Ukraine's Mykolaiv, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts, and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Another key event in the development of the Ukrainian military was the 1992 Tashkent Treaty, which laid out aspirations for a Commonwealth of Independent States military. This collective military proved impossible to develop because the former republics of the USSR all wished to go their own way, ripping the intricate Soviet military machine into pieces.

Ukraine had observer status with the Non-Aligned Movement of nation-states from 1996. However, due to the 2014 Russian aggression against Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada repealed this status on 23 December 2014.

Arms Control and Disarmament

A Tu-22M being dismantled through assistance provided by the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program implemented by the DTRA, 2002

See also: Nuclear weapons and Ukraine

Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited two divisions of the Strategic Rocket Forces' 43rd Rocket Army (HQ Vinnytsia): the 19th Rocket Division (Khmelnytskyi) (90 UR-100N/SS-19/RS-18) and the 46th Rocket Division at Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv Oblast, equipped with 40 SS-19 and 46 silo-mounted RT-23 Molodets/SS-24s. While Ukraine had physical control of these systems, it did not have operational control. The use of the weapons was dependent on Russian-controlled electronic Permissive Action Links and the Russian command and control system.

An SS-20 on display at the World War II Museum in Kyiv

Ukraine voluntarily gave up these and all other nuclear weapons during the early 1990s. This was the first time in history that a country voluntarily gave up the use of strategic nuclear weapons, although South Africa was dismantling its small tactical nuclear weapons program at about the same time.

Ukraine has plentiful amounts of highly enriched uranium, which the United States wanted to buy from the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology. Ukraine also has two uranium mining and processing factories, a heavy water plant and technology for determining the isotopic composition of fissionable materials. Ukraine has deposits of uranium that are among the world's richest. In May 1992, Ukraine signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) in which the country agreed to give up all nuclear weapons and to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear weapon state. Ukraine ratified the treaty in 1994, and as of January 1, 1996, no military nuclear equipment or materials remain on Ukrainian territory.

On 13 May 1994, the United States and Ukraine signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Transfer of Missile Equipment and Technology. This agreement committed Ukraine to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) by controlling exports of missile-related equipment and technology according to the MTCR Guidelines.

Other disarmament – strategic planes & other missiles

Ukraine and NATO estimate that 2.5 million tons of conventional ammunition were left in Ukraine as the Soviet military withdrew, as well as more than 7 million rifles, pistols, mortars, and machine guns. The surplus weapons and ammunition were stored in over 180 military bases, including in bunkers, salt mines and in the open. As of 2014, much of this surplus had not been scrapped.

Attempt at Reforms and Constant Fund Shortages

Ukraine's first military reforms began on December 26, 1996, with the adoption of a new "State Program for the Building and Development of the Armed Forces of Ukraine". One of the aspects was to shrink the standard combat unit from division size to brigade size which would then fall under the command of one of the three newly created military district; the Western Operational Command, the Southern Operational Command, and the largest – the Northern Operational/Territorial Command. Only Ukraine's 1st Airmobile Division was not downsized. This downsizing occurred purely for financial reasons with Ukrainian economy in recession this was a way to shrink the government (defense) expenditure and at the same time release hundreds of thousands of young people into the private sector to stimulate growth. During this time Ukraine's military-industrial complex also began to develop new indigenous weapons for the armed forces like the T-84 tank, the BMP-1U, the BTR-3, KrAZ-6322, and the Antonov An-70. All these reforms were championed by Leonid Kuchma, the 2nd President of Ukraine, who wanted to retain a capable military and a functioning military-industrial complex because he didn't trust Russia who he believed might one day become Ukraine's enemy, stating once "The threat of Russofication is a real concern for us".

Kuchma was also eager to modernize the equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, however, after learning of the price tag of such a move, he backtracked, preferring to rely on the sizable Soviet supply of weapons which he made sure were well maintained. But the cancellation of the modernization program left a question of how to provide jobs in the military industrial complex which then comprised a double-digit percentage of the GDP. Export of new and modernized weapons on the world's arms markets was settled on as the best option, where Ukraine both tried to undercut the contracts of the Russian arms industry – offering the same service for a cheaper price, and was willing to sell equipment to whoever was willing to pay (more than once to politically unstable or even aggressive regimes), causing negative reactions from both Western Europe and the United States federal government. During this time 320 T-80 tanks would be sold to Pakistan and an unfinished Soviet aircraft carrier the Varyag which today is known as the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning.

Though the military was well equipped it still experienced lack of funds particularly for training and exercises, which led to a number of incidents with one notable one being the Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 of 2001 the other Sknyliv airshow disaster of 2002. Still, the military's effectiveness was demonstrated during the Tuzla Island Conflict – when (brief description). In 2003 Ukraine completed its first set of reforms which were judged largely successful, with the personnel numbers stabilizing at 295,000 of which 90,000 were civilian contractors.

• Second phase 2004–2010
  • downsizing further
  • training
  • maintenance and new equipment
  • NATO and Russia
  • 2008 financial crisis
• The Yanukovich Catastrophe (2011–2014)
  • appointment of Russian citizens to the ministry of defense and intelligence
  • downsizing
  • lack of funds for exercise, vehicle maintenance, and even monthly paychecks
  • scrapping and sale of equipment
  • incompetence in, and destruction of the military industrial complex

Ukrainian military tactics and organization are heavily dependent on Cold War tactics and former Soviet Armed Forces organization. Under former President Yushchenko, Ukraine pursued a policy of independence from Russian dominance, and thus tried to fully integrate with the West, specifically NATO.

Until the Euromaidan crisis of 2014, Ukraine retained tight military relations with Russia, inherited from their common Soviet history. Common uses for naval bases in the Crimea and joint air defense efforts were the most intense cooperative efforts. This cooperation was a permanent irritant in bilateral relations, but Ukraine appeared economically dependent on Moscow, and thus unable to break such ties quickly. After the election of President Victor Yanukovych, ties between Moscow and Kyiv warmed, and those between Kyiv and NATO cooled, relative to the Yushchenko years.

Conflict in Eastern Ukraine (2014 – present)

T-64BMs in Eastern Ukraine

Main articles: 2014 Crimean crisis, Donbas war, and Humanitarian situation during the war in Donbas

In March 2014, after the Crimean Russian aggression began, it was announced by the reformist government that a new military service, the National Guard of Ukraine would be created. Previously a National Guard had existed up until 2000, thus the 2014 NG is a reformation of the one raised in 1991, but this time formed part of personnel from the Internal Troops of Ukraine.

In May 2014, when a Russian aggression started in eastern regions, a helicopter with 14 soldiers on board, including General Serhiy Kulchytskiy, who headed combat and special training for the country's National Guard, was brought down by militants near Sloviansk in East Ukraine. Outgoing President Olexander Turchynov described the downing as a "terrorist attack," and blamed pro-Russian militants.

In the early months of the Russian aggression, the Armed Forces were widely criticised for their poor equipment and inept leadership, forcing Internal Affairs Ministry forces like the National Guard and the territorial defence battalions to take on the brunt of the fighting in the first months of the war.

In late July 2015, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry revealed new Ukrainian Armed Forces uniform designs, and later a revised rank insignia system was created. These made their national debut on August 24, 2016, at the National Independence Day Silver Jubilee parade in Independence Square, Kyiv.

By February 2018 the Ukrainian armed forces were larger and better equipped than ever before, numbering 200,000 active-service military personnel and most of the volunteer soldiers of the territorial defence battalions have been integrated into the official Ukrainian army.

A late 2017-early 2018 United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported that human rights abuses allegedly committed by Ukrainian security forces and armed groups remained an ongoing issue of the war in Donbas that erupted in 2014. The nature of the alleged crimes ranged from unlawful or arbitrary detention to torture, ill-treatment, and sexual violence. Within the reporting period of 16 November 2017 to 15 February 2018 the OHCHR monitoring mission documented 115 cases of credible allegations of human rights violations committed by both sides of the conflict since 2014.

Ukraine and NATO Membership

Main article: Ukraine–NATO relations

SOF operators during exercises

Ukraine's stated national policy is Euro-Atlantic integration, with the European Union. Ukraine has a "Distinctive Partnership" with NATO (see Enlargement of NATO) and has been an active participant in Partnership for Peace exercises and in peacekeeping in the Balkans. This close relationship with NATO has been most apparent in Ukrainian cooperation and combined peacekeeping operations with its neighbor Poland in Kosovo. Ukrainian servicemen also serve under NATO command in Iraq, Afghanistan and in Operation Active Endeavour. Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych considered the level of co-operation between Ukraine and NATO sufficient. His predecessor Viktor Yushchenko had asked for Ukrainian membership by early 2008. During the 2008 Bucharest summit NATO declared that Ukraine will become a member of NATO whenever it wants and when it meets the criteria for accession. Former Ukrainian President Yanukovych opted to keep Ukraine a non-aligned state. This materialized on June 3, 2010, when the Ukrainian parliament excluded, with 226 votes, the goal of "integration into Euro-Atlantic security and NATO membership" from the country's national security strategy. Amid the Euromaidan unrest, Yanukovych fled Ukraine in February 2014.

The interim Yatsenyuk Government which came to power, initially said, with reference to the country's non-aligned status, that it had no plans to join NATO. However, following the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and parliamentary elections in October 2014, the new government made joining NATO a priority. On 23 December 2014, the Ukrainian parliament renounced Ukraine's non-aligned status that "proved to be ineffective in guaranteeing Ukraine's security and protecting the country from external aggression and pressure". The Ukrainian military is since transforming to NATO standards. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk stated early February 2016 that de facto the Armed Forces must, soon as possible, begin its transition for Ukrainian entry into NATO and towards NATO-capable armed forces. President Zelensky made a renewed call to Western powers for NATO membership during the Russian buildup on the border in 2021 but was ultimately unsuccessful.

Organization

President Volodymyr Zelensky with the senior leadership of the Ukrainian military in May 2019

In late 2010 the total personnel (including 41,000 civilian workers) was 200,000. Conscription was ended in October 2013; at that time the Ukrainian armed forces were made up of 40% conscripts and 60% contract soldiers. In April 2014 acting President Oleksandr Turchynov reinstated conscription in May 2014.

In early 2014, Ukraine had 130,000 personnel in its armed forces that could be boosted to about one million with reservists.

There is a reported total of 250,800 personnel in the Armed Forces in 2015.

Ukraine maintained until 2016 a number of Guards units, tracing their traditions to the Soviet Armed Forces. A list can be seen at List of guards units of Ukraine. There were reports in 2015 that all Guards units had been either disbanded or reformed to regular units, this was proven false as all their Soviet decorations were removed from their titles and regimental colours by 15 November the same year due to the decommunization process in Ukraine which ceased promotion and glorification of the Soviet symbols. (On August 22, 2016, the Guards titles were removed from the unit titles.) Only one brigade, the 51st, a former Guards unit, had been dissolved the year before.

Following the Russian aggression, Ukraine has adopted a new military doctrine (third edition) which made the Russian Federation its main opponent and announced Ukraine's intentions for closer relations with NATO armed services, most especially if it joins the organization in the future.

The law 'On the Foundations of National Resistance' (Закон «Про основи національного спротиву», Section IX, Article 2. – 6) establishes the following structure of the Ukrainian Armed Forces:

• General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces
• Joint Forces Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces
• services of the UAF

Army Parade on the occasion of the Independence Day of Ukraine (2018)

• • Ground Forces
  • Air Force
  • Navy
• separate branches of the UAF
  • Special Operations Forces Command
  • Territorial Defense Command
  • Logistical Forces Command
  • Support Forces Command
  • Medical Forces Command
• separate troop arms of the UAF
  • Air Landing Assault Troops Command
  • Signals and Cyber-Security Troops Command
• organs of military command and control, formations and units, which are separate from the services, branches and arms

Ministry of Defence

The following establishments and institutions fall directly under MoD subordination:

Structures directly subordinated to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence

Ukrainian Ministry of Defence Apparatus, Kyiv

• Main Intelligence Directorate
• Security Service of the MoD
• Main Inspection
• Defence Policies Directorate
• Defence Information Policies and Strategic Communications Directorate
• Military Education and Science Department
• Military Technical Policies, Development and Military Weaponry and Equipment Department
• Internal Audit department
• Military Policies and Strategic Planning Department
• State Purchases and Deliveries of Material Resources Department
• Information Organisation Works and Control Department
• Personnel Policies Department
• International Defence Co-operation Department
• Social and Personnel Policies Support Department
• Financial Department
• Judicial Support Department
• Military Representations Directorate
• Anti-Corruption Directorate
• State Secrets Security Directorate
• Press and Information Directorate
• Physical Culture and Sport Directorate
• Control Measures Co-ordination Unit
• Mobilization Preparedness Unit

State Aviation Scientific Development Institute, Kyiv

State Scientific Test Center of the UAF (MU А4444), Honcharivsk, Chernihiv Oblast

Central Scientific Research Institute of the UAF (MU А0202), Kyiv

Central Military Weaponry and Equipment Scientific Research Institute of the UAF (MU А4566), Kyiv

Scientific Research Center of the Missile and Artillery Troops (MU А????), Sumy, Sumy Oblast

Scientific Research Center for Humanitarian Matters of the UAF (MU А2350), Kyiv

Central Directorate for Acquisition and Delivery of Material Supplies of the UAF, Kyiv

Codification Bureau (MU А2387), Kyiv

Military Delegations of the MoU

other directly subordinated units

Chief of the General Staff

The Chief of the General Staff oversees the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Units directly subordinated to the Commander of the UAF

Apparatus [Office] of the Commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Kyiv

General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Kyiv

Units directly subordinated to the General Staff of the UAF (частини безпосереднього підпорядкування Генеральному штабу ЗС України):

• Joint Forces Command of the UAF (MU А0135), Kyiv
• Main Command Center of the UAF (MU А0911), Kyiv
• Back-up Command Center of the UAF (MU А3258), Radomyshl, Zhytomyr Oblast
• 15th Airborne Command and Control Center of the General Staff of the UAF (MU А0905), Vinnytsia, Vinnytsia Oblast
• Main Directorate for Moral and Psychological Support of the UAF, Kyiv
• Main Directorate for Military Cooperation and Verification of the UAF, Kyiv
• Central Military Security Directorate, Kyiv
• Directorate for Career Development of NCO Personnel, Kyiv
• 101st Security Brigade of the General Staff 'Colonel-General Henadii Vorobiov' (МУ А0139), Kyiv
• other units and establishments directly under the General Staff of the UAF

Military Education Establishments and Units (directly under the MoD)

• National Defense University of Ukraine 'Ivan Chernyakhovsky' , Kyiv
• Military Institute of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv
• Zhytomyr Military Institute 'Sergei Korolev', Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast
  • 190th Training Center, Huyva, Zhytomyr Oblast
• Military Judicial Institute of the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, Kharkiv, Kharkiv Oblast
• Kyiv Military Liceum 'Ivan Bohun', Kyiv

Ukrainian Ground Forces

Ukrainian T-64BM Bulat

As of 2016, there were a reported 169,000 personnel in the Ukrainian Ground Forces. The Ukrainian Ground Forces are divided into Armoured and Mechanized Forces, Army Aviation, Army Air Defence and Rocket and Artillery Troops. There are 13 mechanized brigades and two mountain warfare brigades in the Mechanized Forces. Ukraine also has two armoured brigades. There are also seven rocket and artillery brigades. Until 2013, the Ground Forces were divided into three army corps. These were disbanded in 2013 and reorganized as Operation Command West, Operation Command North and Operation Command South. Operation Command East was formed in 2015 to coordinate forces in the war in Donbas.

Ukrainian Su-25

Ukrainian Air Force

In 2016, the Ukrainian Air Force was reported to have included 36,300 personnel.

Ukrainian Navy

The Krivak III-class frigate Hetman Sahaydachniy; the current flagship of the Ukrainian Navy

According to an August 2015 Kyiv Post report, the Ukrainian Navy consisted of 6,500 personnel.

Air Assault and Airborne Forces

Ukrainian Air Assault Forces

The Ukrainian Air Assault Forces are composed of 8 air landing, air assault and air-mobile brigades and support units. These are high-readiness ground units without air-assets and are considered elite within the armed forces.

Airborne and Air Assault Forces Command (MU А3771), Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast

• Support units
  • 135th Command Battalion, Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast
  • 347th Information and Telecommunications Nod, Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast
  • Airborne Forces Support Commandature
  • 132nd Reconnaissance Battalion, Ozerne Air Base, Zhytomyr Oblast
  • 102nd Storage for Airborne Vehicles and Equipment, Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast
  • 232nd Joint Supply Base, Rakhni village, Vinnytsia Oblast
  • 124th Topographic Unit, Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast (part of the Military Topographic Service (of the Support Forces Command) attached to the Air Assault and Airborne Forces)
• Combat forces
  • Airborne
    • 25th Airborne 'Sicheslavska' Brigade (MU А1126)
  • Air Assault
    • 45th Air Assault Brigade (MU A????), Bolhrad, Odessa Oblast
    • 46th Air Assault Brigade (MU A????), Poltava, Poltava Oblast
    • 79th Air Assault Brigade (MU А0224), Mykolaiv, Mykolaiv Oblast
    • 80th Air Assault Brigade (MU А0284), Lviv, Lviv Oblast and Chernivtsi, Chernivtsi Oblast
    • 95th Air Assault Brigade (MU А0281), Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast
  • air mobile
    • 81st Airmobile Brigade, Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast
  • 23rd Tank Battalion, Velikyi Kobilin, Zhytomyr Oblast
  • 148th Howitzer Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion, Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast

• Training units
  • 199th Training Center, Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast
    • 37th Combined Arms Training Range, Perlyavka village, Teterіvka District, Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast

Special Forces

Ukraine's special forces are reported as 4,000 strong.

Special Operations Forces Command (Military Unit [MU] А0987), Kyiv

Ukrainian Special Operation Forces

• Command and combat support units:
  • 99th Command and Support Battalion (MU А3628), Berdychiv, Zhytomyr Oblast
  • 142nd Education and Training Center (MU А2772), Berdychiv, Zhytomyr Oblast
• Land warfare special purpose units:
  • 3rd Special Purpose Regiment 'Prince Sviatoslav the Brave'  (MU А0680), Kropyvnytskyi, Kirovohrad Oblast
  • 8th Special Purpose Regiment 'Iziaslav Mstislavich' (MU A0553), Khmelnitskyi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast
  • 140th Special Operations Forces Center (MU А0661), Khmelnitskyi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast
• Seaborne special purpose units:
  • 73rd Maritime Special Operations Center 'Kish otaman Antin Holovaty' (MU A3199), Pervomayskiy Island, Ochakiv, Mykolaiv Oblast
• Aviation special purpose units:
  • 35th Mixed Aviation Squadron , Havryshivka Air Base (Vinnytsia IAP), Vinnytsia Oblast
• Information and psychological warfare units :
  • 16th Information Warfare and Psychological Operations Center (MU А1182), Huiva, Zhytomyr Oblast
  • 72nd Information Warfare and Psychological Operations Center (MU А4398), Brovary, Kyiv Oblast
  • 74th Information Warfare and Psychological Operations Center (MU А1277), Lviv, Lviv Oblast
  • 83rd Information Warfare and Psychological Operations Center (MU А2455), Odessa, Odessa Oblast

Signals and Cybernetic Security Forces

The Signals and Cybernetic Security Troops Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (Командування Військ зв'язку та кібернетичної безпеки Збройних Сил України) is a separate joint forces command under the General Staff since February 5, 2020.

Signals and Cybernetic Security Troops Command (MU А0106), Kyiv

• Main Command Post of the Signals and Information Systems (MU А2666), Kyiv
• Main Center for Information and Telecommunications Systems Security Control (MU А0334), Kyiv
• Main Information and Telecommunications Nod (MU А0351), Kyiv
• 1st Field 'Proskurov' Signals Nod (MU А0565), Kyiv
• 3rd Signals Brigade (MU А0415), Semipolki, Kyiv Oblast
• 8th Signals Regiment (MU А0707), Haisyn, Vinnytsia Oblast
• 330th Central Nod of the Feldjaeger-Postal [Field Courier] Service (MU А0168), Kyiv
• 1899th Central Base for Repair and Overhaul of Special Signals Equipment (MU А0476), Kyiv

training establishments and units

• Military Institute for Telecommunications and Information Automatization (MITIA) 'Heroes of Kruty', Kyiv
• Military College for NCO Personnel of the MITIA, Poltava, Poltava Oblast
• 179th Joint Education and Training Center of the Signals Troops (MU А3990), Poltava, Poltava Oblast

under other services and troops

• Signals and Information Systems Center of the Joint Forces Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Kyiv
• Signals and Information Systems directorates to the headquarters of the ground forces, air force, navy, air landing and assault troops, special operations forces, territorial defence forces, support forces, logistical forces etc

Support Forces

Since January 1, 2022 the support forces have the status of a separate joint branch under the General Staff.

Support Forces Command (Military Unit [MU] А2330), Kyiv

• Central Directorate of Engineer Troops of the UAF (MU А0107), Kyiv
  • 20th Arsenal of the Engineer Troops (MU А0543), Olshanytsia, Kyiv Oblast and Nizhyn, Chernihiv Oblast
  • 47th Engineer Brigade (MU А2755), Dubno, Rivne Oblast
    • 301st Road Traffic Control Battalion
    • 304th Road Traffic Control Battalion
  • 48th Engineer 'Kamianets-Podilskaya' Brigade (MU А2738), Kamianets-Podilskyi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast
    • 11th Pontoon-Bridging Battalion
    • 308th Engineer Technical Battalion
    • 309th Engineer Technical Battalion
    • 310th Engineer Technical Battalion
    • 311th Engineer Technical Battalion
    • 321st Engineer Battalion
  • 70th Support Regiment (MU А0853), Bar, Vinnytsia Oblast
  • 107th Road Maintenance Center (MU А1519), Dubno, Rivne Oblast
  • 808th Support Regiment (MU А3955), Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Odessa Oblast Oblast
  • 3046th Central Base for Engineer Ammunitions (MU А2647), Malynivka, Kharkiv Oblast
  • Center for Special Engineering Works (MU А1333), Kyiv
• Central Directorate of the NBC Defence Troops of the UAF (MU А0108), Kyiv
  • NBC Surveillance and Analysis Center , Kyiv
  • 704th NBC Defence Regiment (MU А0807), Sambir village , Lviv Oblast
  • 536th Central Base for Repair and Maintenance of NBC Defence Equipment (MU А0312), Seleshtina-1, Poltava Oblast
• Central Directorate for Radio-Electronic Warfare of the UAF (MU А0159), Kyiv
  • 55th Separate Special EW Center (MU А0766), Kyiv and Brovary, Kyiv Oblast
• Central Directorate for Military Topography and Navigation of the UAF (MU А0115), Kyiv
  • 8th Publishing Center of the UAF (MU А0602), Kyiv
  • 13th Photogrammetric Center (MU А3674), Odessa, Odessa Oblast
  • 16th Planning Center for Navigation Support (MU А1423), Kyiv
  • 22nd Military Mapping Unit (MU А1121), Kharkiv, Kharkiv Oblast
  • 64th Topography-Geodesic Center (MU А4127), Shepetivka, Khmelnytskyi Oblast
  • 161st Topography-Geodesic Center (MU А2308), Chernivtsi, Chernivtsi Oblast
  • 115th Mapping Center (MU А3796), Kotsyubynske, Kyiv Oblast
• Hydro-Meteorological Center of the UAF(MU А0204), Kyiv
  • Hydro-meteorological units of the ground forces, air force and navy
• Training units
  • Joint Education and Training Center of the Support Forces (MU А2641), Kamianets-Podilskyi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast

Logistical Forces

Since January 1, 2022 the support forces have the status of a separate joint branch under the General Staff. The logistical forces are mainly organised in two arms – Weaponry and Rear Services.

Logistical Forces Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (MU А0307), Kyiv

• Armament Service of the UAF (MU А2513)
  • Central Support Directorate for Ground Weapons Systems
  • Central Support Directorate for Military Equipment
  • Central Support Directorate for Weapons of Mass Destruction‎‎
  • Central Missile and Artillery Directorate of the UAF (MU А0120)
  • Central Automobile DIrectorate of the UAF (MU А0119)
  • Central Armored Directorate of the UAF (MU А0174)
  • Department for Metrology and Standardization of the UAF (MU А2187)
• Rear Service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (MU А2516)
  • Central Support Directorate for Fuel and Lubricants (MU А0125)
  • Central Support Directorate for Food Supply of the UAF (MU А0126)
  • Central Support Directorate for Material Support of the UAF (MU А0127)
  • Central Support Directorate for Resources Supply
  • Central Support Directorate for Technical Equipment and Property
  • Central Support Directorate for Engineering and Infrastructure
  • Central Directorate for Military Communications of the UAF (MU А0671)
• military units subordinated to the Armament Service
• military units subordinated to the Rear Service

Medical Forces

Since January 1, 2022 the support forces have the status of a separate joint branch under the General Staff.

Medical Forces Command (MU А0928), Kyiv

• National Military Medical Clinical Center 'Main Military Clinical Hospital', Kyiv
  • 71st Mobile Military Hospital (MU А0358), Kyiv
  • Military Medical Clinical Center for Professional Patology (MU А2923), Irpin, Kyiv Oblast
  • Central Dental Policlinic, Kyiv
  • Center for Medical Rehabilitation and Sanatorium Treatment 'Pushcha-Voditsya' (MU А1931), Kyiv
• Military Medical Clinical Center of the Central Region (''Військово-медичний клінічний центр Центрального регіону'') (MU А????), Vinnytsia, Vinnytsia Oblast
  • 59th Mobile Military Hospital (MU А0206), Vinnytsia, Vinnytsia Oblast
  • 10th Military Hospital (MU А2339), Khmelnytskyi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast
  • 409th Military Hospital (MU А1065), Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast
  • 762nd Military Hospital (MU А3122), Bila Tserkva, Kyiv Oblast
  • ?th Military Hospital (MU А3267), Starokonstantyniv, Khmelnytskyi Oblast
  • 1314th Medical Storage (MU А1603), Balki village, Vinnytsia Oblast
  • Center for Medical Rehabilitation and Sanatorium Treatment 'Khmelnyk' (MU А1168), Khmelnyk, Vinnytsia Oblast
• Military Medical Clinical Center of the Southern Region (MU A????), Odessa, Odessa Oblast
  • 38th Military Hospital (MU А4615), Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
  • 61st Military Hospital (MU А0318), Mariupol, Mariupol Oblast
  • 450th Military Hospital (MU А3309), Zaporizhzhia, Zaporizhzhia Oblast
  • 1467th Military Hospital (MU А2428), Mykolaiv, Mykolaiv Oblast
  • 1644th Medical Storage (MU А4619), Hrushyvka village, Mykolaiv Oblast
  • Center for Medical Rehabilitation and Sanatorium Treatment 'Odesskyi', Odessa, Odessa Oblast
• Military Medical Clinical Center of the Northern Region (MU А3306), Kharkiv, Kharkiv Oblast
  • 65th Mobile Military Hospital (MU А0209), Kharkiv, Kharkiv Oblast
  • 9th Military Hospital (MU А4302), Desna, Chernihiv Oblast
  • 387th Garrison Military Hospital (MU А3114), Poltava, Poltava Oblast
  • 407th Military Hospital (MU А3120), Chernihiv, Chernihiv Oblast
• Military Medical Clinical Center of the Western Region, Lviv, Lviv Oblast
  • 66th Mobile Military Hospital (MU А0233), Lviv, Lviv Oblast
  • 376th Military Hospital (MU А1028), Chernivtsi, Chernivtsi Oblast
  • 498th Military Hospital (MU А4554), Lutsk, Volyn Oblast
  • 1121st Policlinic, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast
  • 1129th Garrison Military Hospital (MU А1446), Rivne, Rivne Oblast
  • 1397th Military Hospital (MU А1047), Mukachevo, Zakarpattia Oblast
  • Center for Medical Rehabilitation and Sanatorium Treatment 'Truskavetskyi' (MU А1700), Truskavets, Lviv Oblast
• Central Sanitary Epidemiologic Directorate (MU А2417), Kyiv
  • 10th Regional Sanitary Epidemiologic Detachment (MU А0972), Kyiv
  • 27th Regional Sanitary Epidemiologic Detachment (MU А4502), Odessa, Odessa Oblast
  • 28th Regional Sanitary Epidemiologic Detachment (MU А4520), Lviv, Lviv Oblast
  • 108th Regional Sanitary Epidemiologic Detachment (MU А4510), Kharkiv, Kharkiv Oblast
  • 740th Regional Sanitary Epidemiologic Detachment (MU А4516), Vinnytsia, Vinnytsia Oblast
• Center for Legal Expertise of the MoD, Kyiv
• 148th Center for Maintenance and Storage of Medical Equipment (MU А0211), Bila Tserkva, Kyiv Oblast
• 149th Center for Maintenance and Storage of Medical Equipment (MU А0503), Berdychiv, Zhytomyr Oblast
• 150th Center for Maintenance and Storage of Medical Equipment (MU А1209), Tokmak, Zaporizhzhia Oblast
• 151st Center for Maintenance and Storage of Medical Equipment (MU А2554), Terentyivka, Poltava Oblast
• 2160th Central Medical Storage (MU А1382), Mankhivka, Cherkasy Oblast
• 4962nd Central Medical Storage (MU А1952), Kyiv

Training establishments and units

• Ukrainian Military Medical Academy, Kyiv

Medical forces under other services and arms

• Medical departments of the ground forces, air force, navy, air assault troops, special forces, territorial defence, support forces, logistic forces, signals and cyber-security, etc.

Military Police

The military police (named the Military Law Enforcement Service of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (Військова служба правопорядку Збройних Сил України), abbreviated VSP (ВСП) in Ukrainian) is a special military service outside General Staff control and subordinated directly to the Ministry of Defence.

Main Directorate of the VSP (MU А0880), Kyiv

• Counterincursion and Counterterror Department (Відділ протидії диверсіям та терористичним актам)

directly reporting:

• 93rd VSP Battalion (MU А2424), Kyiv
• 138th Special Purpose Center (Counterincursion and Counterterror) 'Knyaz Vladimir Svyatoslavich' (MU А0952), Vasylkiv, Kyiv Oblast
• 307th Disciplinary Battalion of the VPS (MU А0488), Kyiv
• 25th Training Center of the VSP (MU А1666), Lviv, Lviv Oblast

Territorial forces:

Central Directorate (direct responsibility over Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast) (MU А2100), Kyiv

• Bila Tserkva Zonal Office, Bila Tserkva, Kyiv Oblast
• Zhytomyr Zonal Unit (AOR: Zhytomyr Oblast), Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast
  • Novohrad-Volynsky Office
• Poltava Zonal Unit (AOR: Poltava and Sumy Oblasts), Poltava, Poltava Oblast
  • Sumy Zonal Office
  • Konotop VSP Group
• Cherkasy Zonal Unit (AOR: Cherkasy Oblast), Cherkasy, Cherkasy Oblast
  • Uman VSP Group, Uman, Cherkasy Oblast
• Chernihiv Zonal Unit (AOR: Chernihiv Oblast), Chernihiv, Chernihiv Oblast
  • Desna VSP Group, Desna, Chernihiv Oblast

Western Territorial Directorate (direct responsibility over Lviv Oblast) (MU А0583), Lviv, Lviv Oblast

• Special Purpose Unit
• Yavoriv Zonal Office
• 3rd Special Unit (MU А2736), Lviv, Lviv Oblast
• Rivne Zonal Unit (AOR: Rivne and Volyn Oblasts), Rivne, Rivne Oblast
  • Volodymyr-Volynskyi Zonal Office
• Ternopil Zonal Unit (AOR: Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblasts), Ternopil, Ternopil Oblast
  • Ivano-Frankivsk Zonal Office
• Uzhhorod Zonal Unit (AOR: Zakarpattia Oblast), Uzhhorod
  • Mukachevo Zonal Office
• Khmelnytskyi Zonal Unit (AOR: Khmelnytskyi Oblast), Khmelnytskyi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast

Southern Territorial Directorate (direct responsibility over Odessa Oblast) (MU А1495), Odessa, Odessa Oblast

• Special Purpose Unit
• VSP Office Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi
• Vinnytsia Zonal Unit (AOR: Vinnytsia Oblast), Vinnytsia, Vinnytsia Oblast
  • Special Purpose Office
• Mykolaiv Zonal Unit (AOR: Mykolaiv and Kirovohrad Oblast), Mykolaiv, Mykolaiv Oblast
  • Kirovohrad Zonal Office
• Kherson Zonal Unit (AOR: Kherson Oblast), Kherson, Kherson Oblast

Eastern Territorial Directorate (direct responsibility over Dnipropetrovsk Oblast) (MU А2256), Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast

• Kryvyi Rih Zonal Office
• VSP Office Cherkasy
• Special Unit 'Sarmat' (MU А2176), Zaporizhzhia, Zaporizhzhia Oblast
• Donetsk Zonal Unit (AOR: Donetsk Oblast), Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast
• Zaporizhzhia Zonal Unit (AOR: Zaporizhzhia Oblast), Zaporizhzhia, Zaporizhzhia Oblast
• Luhansk Zonal Unit (AOR: Luhansk Oblast), Severodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast
• Kharkiv Zonal Unit (AOR: Kharkiv Oblast), Kharkiv, Kharkiv Oblast
  • Chuhuiv Office

Personnel and conscription

The Soviet Union required all able-bodied male citizens to serve two years in the armed forces (three years if drafted into the navy), although the draft could be postponed due to continued higher education. It was possible to be drafted into non Ministry of Defense military forces such as the KGB Border Guards, the Militsiya, or the Internal Troops. When Ukraine gained its independence it retained the policy of conscription, although the time in service was reduced to 18 months in the navy and one year in all other services. Ukraine also gradually began recruiting professional soldiers, although in almost all cases a person had to serve as a conscript prior to becoming a professional soldier. The Ukrainian Naval Infantry was the first service to convert to being staffed by fully professional marines.

In October 2013 President Yanukovich ended conscription in Ukraine, at the time 60% of Ukraine's forces were composed of professional soldiers. However, due to the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine conscription, as well as a partial mobilization, was reinstated in 2014. Ukraine has modified the age group of males eligible for conscription for 2015 from 18–25 to the 20–27 age group.

After serving out the term of service Ukraine's conscripts become part of the inactive reserve and are eligible to be recalled for mobilization until they reach age 55, age 60 for officers. Due to the war in Donbas Ukraine has instated a partial mobilization to fill needed positions in its armed forces, recalling conscripts who have served before, because of the war many conscripts have also been forced to serve longer than their original 18-month term of service. It was planned that in 2015 Ukraine would undergo three waves of partial mobilization, this would have allowed new troops to replace those serving longer than their original term of service.

Due to the reintroduction of conscription, and partial mobilization, Ukraine's armed forces is expected to nearly double from approximately 130,000 personnel in December 2014 to approximately 250,000 personnel in 2015.

All medical workers in Ukraine, regardless of gender, are eligible to be called up for service in case of a national emergency.

Draft dodging is present in Ukraine as with most nations using the draft. It was reported that between April and August 2014, over 1,000 criminal inquires into draft evasion were opened in Ukraine. Draft evasion can be problematic because unless a male citizen was unable to serve for medical reasons, an application to receive an international passport of Ukraine may be denied due to a lack of military service, thus preventing the individual from traveling abroad.

In the autumn of 2016 longer deployment of mobilized servicemen to combat area in the east of Ukraine was ceased.

On 1 February 2022, President Zelensky announced the changing of military training system which would have resulted in the end of conscription and an increase in the number of servicemen by 100,000 by January 1, 2024. However, the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine has upended these plans, along with massive popular mobilization into the Territorial Defence Forces.

Contract service

In 2017 more than 14 thousand people signed up for contract service with the Armed Forces.

For participating in the war in Donbas (in May 2017 7.5 thousand) soldiers on the front line receive an average salary of 16 thousand Ukrainian Hryvnia. The minimum maintenance for a contract soldier is 7000 Hryvnia.

West Ukraine supplies the fewest people for contract service.

Paramilitary forces

Ukraine's Armed Forces outside the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense consist of:

• Internal Troops → National Guard (Ministry of Internal Affairs): 46,000
  • Special operation formations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, i.e. Omega, Scorpion (nuclear sites security), Tytan, and others. Most of Felidae-named formations (such as Bars, Jaguar, others) along with Berkut were reformed.
• Border Guard: 42,000 (including 8,000 civilian workers)
  • Ukrainian Sea Guard – the coast guard within the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine
• Various military troops of the SBU (no generic name): 30,000
• Civil Defence Forces (State Emergency Service of Ukraine): 10,218 (including 668 civilian workers)
• Special Transportation Service of Ukraine – (Ministry of Transportation and Communications)

Although not components of the Armed Forces, these militarized institutions are supposed to come under the Armed Forces' command during wartime.

Role of women

Female military personnel at the Kyiv Independence Day Parade on 24 August 2018

On 3 June 2016, Defense Ministry's Order No. 292 allowed women to serve in combat units.

According to Defense Ministry figures early June 2016 some 49,500 women served in and worked in the Ukrainian military; more than 17,000 were military servicewomen, of which more than 2,000 officers. In 2020 58,000 women served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Women have also joined the various volunteer Territorial defense battalions before the order for women's integration in the armed forces was enacted. Women are eligible to be drafted into the military as officers. In 2009 women comprised almost 13% of the armed forces (18,000 personnel) but with few females holding high rank (2.9% or 1,202 women). Contractual military service accounted for almost 44% of women. However, this being closely linked to the low salary of such positions: men refuse to serve in these conditions while women accept them.

For the first time in 27 years, a battalion of 120 female military personnel, comprising cadets from the Taras Shevchenko National University Military Institute and the Military Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technologies, participated in the Kyiv Independence Day Parade in August 2018. Their appearance as they marched along Khreshchatyk was greeted with loud applause from the spectators.

In September 2018, legislation was passed to make both women and men equal in the military and law enforcement agencies. The following month Liudmyla Shugaley became Ukraine's first female general (she was appointed the head of the Military Medical Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine).

Since 2019, the Ivan Bohun Military High School accepts both male and female cadets.

Nadiya Savchenko is perhaps one of the most well known female Ukrainian soldiers and was held as a prisoner in Russia from July 2014 until May 2016.

Education and schools

Cadets of the NDUU marching in the 2017 Kyiv Independence Day Parade

A number of universities have specialized military institutes, such as the Faculty of Military Legal Studies at Kharkiv's National Yaroslav Mudryi Law Academy of Ukraine. The primary Ukrainian military academies are:

• Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Ground Forces Academy, Lviv
• Admiral Pavel Nakhimov Naval Academy, Sevastopol
  • transferred to Mykolaiv
• Ivan Kozhedub National Air Force University, Kharkiv

In addition the Ivan Chernyakhovsky National Defense University of Ukraine is in Kyiv.

The Central Hospital of the Armed Forces is located in Kyiv.

The armed forces' military high school is located in Kyiv – the Ivan Bohun Military High School.

Recent operations

Members of the Ukrainian Army's 19th Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Battalion in Kuwait

Ukraine has been playing an increasingly larger role in peacekeeping operations. Since 1992, over 30,000 soldiers have taken part in missions in the former Yugoslavia (IFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina, UNPROFOR and UNTAES in Croatia, KFor in Kosovo), the Middle East (Southern Lebanon, Kuwait, Iraq), and Africa (Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia).

Deployments outside Ukraine since 1991

Since 1997, Ukraine has been working closely with NATO and especially with Poland. A Ukrainian unit was deployed as part of the multinational force in Iraq under Polish command. Ukrainian troops are also deployed as part of the Ukrainian-Polish Battalion (UKRPOLBAT) in Kosovo. The total Ukrainian military deployment around the world as of 1 August 2009 was 540 servicemen participating in 8 peacekeeping missions.

The first battle of a regular formation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces happened on April 6, 2004, in Kut, Iraq, when the Ukrainian peacekeeping contingent was attacked by militants of the Mahdi Army. The Ukrainians took fire, and over several hours held the objectives they had been assigned to secure.

Ukrainian troops riding alongside US Marines in Iraq

Ukrainian troops as part of the former Soviet Armed Forces contingent participated in UNPROFOR in 1992, and in the summer of that year were involved into the civil war in Yugoslavia. On July 3, 1992, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a resolution committing the Ukrainian Armed Forces to UN peacekeeping missions. The Minister of Defense, Kostyantyn Morozov, ordered the creation of the 240th Separate Special Battalion (UKRBAT-1) which was based on the 93rd Guards Motor Rifle Division (now the 93rd Mechanized Brigade). Soon after arrival in Sarajevo on July 31, 1992, the battalion's artillery ended up in the middle of a mutual mortar fight between the Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Muslims. One of the Serbian shells hit the Ukrainian position, seriously wounding seven soldiers, one of whom died after hospitalization in Germany.

Since gaining independence Ukraine has deployed troops to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, as well as dedicating peacekeepers to UN missions to Africa (including helicopter units). Ukrainian naval units also participated in anti piracy operations off the coast of Somalia prior to being recalled due to the 2014 Russian intervention in Ukraine.

On 19 January 2015 Ukraine's 18th separate helicopter detachment along with other MONUSCO troops carried out a successful operation eliminating 2 camps belonging to illegal armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Deployment outside Ukraine

• Afghanistan: ISAF (PRT CHAGHCHARAN) – 13 Officers (3 medical officers)
• Democratic Republic of the Congo: (MONUSCO) – 12 Experts on Mission and four Mi-24 helicopters
• Kosovo: (KFOR) – 128 Soldiers
• Kosovo: (UNMIK) – 1 Military Liaison Component Chief of Staff, 1 liaison officer
• Liberia: (UNMIL) – 277 Contingent Troops, 2 Experts on Mission
• Moldova: (Transnistria) – 10 Military Observers
• Sudan: (UNMIS) – 9 Experts on Mission
• Mali (20)

2014 Crimean crisis

Main article: Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation

On 2 March 2014, the Ukrainian Armed Forces were placed on full alert following a Russian military intervention in Crimea.

On 19 March 2014, Ukraine drew plans to withdraw all its troops and their families to the mainland "quickly and efficiently".

Traditions

The Central House of Officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

• On 9 August 2018, President Petro Poroshenko announced that the Battle cry Glory to Ukraine will be the official greeting of the armed forces, replacing the Soviet era military greeting of Hello Comrades (Вітаю товариші, Vitayu tovaryshi). The greeting was first used during the Kyiv Independence Day Parade that year celebrating the centennial of the Ukrainian state. It is also the official greeting of the National Police of Ukraine.
• The Central House of Officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is the cultural center of the Ukrainian military located in Kyiv. Since its recent reorganization, it has become one of the leading cultural centers in the Ukrainian capital. It served as a concert hall for military officers in the post-war years, during which the whole city of Kyiv was in ruins and there were practically no audience halls. It has hosted the National Military History Museum since October 1995.
• The Ukrainian Army unveiled its current uniform on Independence Day in 2016. The new uniforms were modeled on British and Polish military styles and incorporate details from the uniforms worn by the Ukrainian People's Army. The cap includes an insignia of a Ukrainian Cossack grasping a cross. Although mainly designed for the ground forces, other branches based their new uniforms off of the update. Prior to 2016, the uniforms were based on the Soviet military precedent.
• The military uses the Soviet goosestep (originally used by Prussia under the orders of King Frederick the Great) with the speed of the step being 75 steps per minute and elements of the marching pace of the Sich Riflemen.
• When in the present arms position, all unit colors are required to dip.
• The S. Tvorun arrangement of the Zaporizhian March has been used in the ZSU since 1991 when it replaced Farewell of Slavianka in being performed during recruiting days, when new servicemen are welcomed to the Armed Forces and recite their enlistment oaths.

Budget

Ukraine's National Security Strategy foresees that its National Security and Defense budget should be at least 5% of Ukraine's GDP.

On 21 December 2016 the Ukrainian parliament adopted its 2017 National Security and Defense budget worth $5.172 billion; that being 5% of Ukraine's GDP. In 2016 defense expenditures amounted to $4.4 billion, or 5% of the GDP. This (2016 figure) was a 23% increase from 2013 and a 65% increase from 2005. From the total, 60% was budgeted to be spent on defence and 40% on security and policing. 2016 also saw a 30% increase in weapons development spending.

Corruption, which was practically institutionalized in Ukraine, combined with small budgets left the military in such a depleted condition that their ability to confront the crisis in Crimea and the Donbas was minimal. All Ukrainian defence sector is heavily affected by the systemic corruption which is hindering its capacity to perform the tasks of national security. In addition, it is also undermines popular trust in the military as an institution. Despite great effort to resolve the issue there are signs that enough is not being done.

The Ukrainian government has launched major structural reforms of the army to meet NATO standards by 2020, but few believe that it can successfully meet a deadline. Most part of the problems remain intact, for example: lack of civilian and parliamentary control of the armed forces, lack of internal coordination between different departments, poor integration of volunteers into the regular army, impunity and abusive behavior of military personnel in the conflict zone and systemic corruption and nontransparency of financial resources, especially in the Ukroboronprom defense-industry monopoly.

In 2018 the military budget has grown dramatically, to nearly 5% of GDP. Corruption remains a serious problem operating at all levels of Ukrainian society, and the lack of modern military organizational structure has confounded efforts at reform.

Budget per year

(Defense budget only, not "Security and Defense" combined)

• 2003: $1.01 Billion (UAH 5.06 billion @5.0 exchange rate)
• 2004: $1.29 Billion (UAH 6.46 billion @5.0 exchange rate)
• 2005: $1.23 Billion (UAH 6.16 billion @5.0 exchange rate)
• 2006: $1.47 Billion (UAH 7.35 billion @5.0 exchange rate)
• 2007: $2.12 Billion (UAH 10.6 billion @5.0 exchange rate)
• 2008: $1.78 Billion (UAH 8.926 billion @5.0 exchange rate)
• 2009: $0.93 Billion (UAH 7.4 billion @8.0 exchange rate)
• 2010: $1.63 Billion (UAH 13.1 billion @8.0 exchange rate)
• 2011: $1.82 Billion (UAH 14.6 billion @8.0 exchange rate)
• 2012: $2.05 Billion (UAH 16.4 billion @8.0 exchange rate)
• 2013: $1.88 Billion (UAH 15.3 billion @8.1 exchange rate)
• 2014: $1.37 Billion (UAH 15.1 billion @11.0 exchange rate)
• 2015: $1.91 Billion (UAH 40.2 billion @21.0 exchange rate)
• 2016: $2.11 Billion (UAH 56 billion)
• 2017: $2.65 Billion (UAH 69 billion)
• 2018: $3.20 Billion (UAH 83.3 billion)
• 2019: $4.08 Billion (UAH 102 billion)
• 2020: $5.2 billion (UAH 130 billion)
• 2021: $4.9 billion (UAH 121.7 billion)

"Security and Defense" combined budget apart from Department of Defense (Defense Ministry) for Armed Forces of Ukraine, also includes expenses for Police, Customs, and Border Control.

Military holidays

T-64 and Su-27 on Defender of Ukraine Day celebration, 14 October 2017

These are the military holidays observed by all service personnel the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

• May 23 – Naval Infantry Day
• July 8 – Air and Air Defence Forces Day
• First Sunday in July – Navy Day; From 1997 till 2011 this day was celebrated on August 1
• August 8 – Signal Corps Day
• September 7 – Military Intelligence Forces Day
• September 9 – Armoured Forces Day
• September 14 – Mobilized Servicemen Day
• October 14 – Defender of Ukraine Day
• October 29 – Finance Officers Day
• November 3 – Rocket Forces and Artillery Day
• November 3 – Corps of Engineers Day
• November 21 – Air Assault Forces Day
• December 6 – Armed Forces Day; festive fireworks and salutes take place in various cities in Ukraine The holiday was established in 1993 by the Ukrainian parliament.
• December 12 – Ground Forces Day
• December 23 – Operational Servicemen Day

Veterans

Ukraine provides combat veterans with a range of benefits. Ukrainians who served in WWII, the Soviet–Afghan War, or as liquidators at the Chernobyl disaster are eligible for benefits such as monthly allowances, discounts on medical and pharmacy services, free use of public transportation, additional vacation days from work, retention priority in work layoffs, easier access to loans and associated approval processes, preference when applying for security related positions, priority when applying to vocational schools or trade schools, and electricity, gas, and housing subsidies. Veterans are also eligible to stay at military sanatoriums, space permitting. Since gaining independence, Ukraine has deployed troops to Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan, gaining a new generation of veterans separate from those who have served in the Soviet forces. Most recently, the government passed a law extending veteran benefits to Ukrainian troops responding to the war in Donbas. Moreover, veterans from other nations who move to or reside in Ukraine may be eligible for some of the listed benefits, this provision was likely made to ensure WWII, Chernobyl, and Afghanistan veterans from other Soviet states who moved to Ukraine received similar benefits, however as Ukraine has participated in numerous NATO-led conflicts since its independence, it is unclear if NATO veterans would be extended these benefits.

Veteran groups are not as developed as in the United States which has numerous well known national organizations such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars. World War II veterans, and even persons who have lived through the war are generally treated with the highest respect. Other veterans are not as well known. Ukrainian veterans from the Soviet War of Afghanistan are strikingly similar to the Vietnam veterans of the United States. The Soviet Union generally kept the public in the dark through the war, unlike in Vietnam where coverage was very high, Afghanistan is often labeled as a mistake by the Soviet Union and its successor states, the lack of media coverage and censorship through the war also ensured that many still remain unaware of their nations involvement in the conflict. Despite Ukraine having the 3rd largest contingent of troops in Iraq in 2004, few also realize that their nation has many veterans of the Iraq war.

Due to the ongoing conflict with pro-Russian separatists, another generation of veterans appeared in Ukraine. These veterans would be eligible for the same benefits as all others. However, as there was no official declaration of war it was difficult to determine the cut-off date for veteran benefits, leaving many that participated at the beginning of the conflict without benefits. At first, Ukraine only gave benefits posthumously to family members as there was no legal framework to account for the veterans, moreover, members of territorial defense battalions were not eligible for benefits at all. In August, a law was passed granting all service members participating in Ukraine's Anti-Terror Operation the status of veterans, five months after first hostilities broke out in Crimea, the territorial defense battalions were integrated into the National Guard making them part of Ukraine's forces, thus allowing their volunteers to receive veteran status.

Veterans of the so-called "ATO"-operations in Donbas are eligible for receiving apartments (if staying in active duty) or a land plot for building purposes of 1000 sqm. in the district of their registration.

On 22 November 2018 the Ministry for Veterans Affairs of Ukraine was officially established.

Military industrial complex

Main article: Ukroboronprom

Ukraine received about 30% of the Soviet military industry, which included between 50 and 60 percent of all Ukrainian enterprises, employing 40% of its working population. Ukraine was a leader in missile-related technology, navigation electronics for combat vessels and submarines, guidance systems, and radar for military jets, heavy armoured vehicles.

The military-technical policy in the field of development and modernization of weapons and military equipment provides the Central Scientific Research Institute of Armament and Military Equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

See also

• Military ranks of Ukraine
• Flags of the Ukrainian Armed Forces
• Ukrainian Armed Forces branch insignia

Further reading

• Andrew Bowen, "Ukrainian Armed Forces," Congressional Research Service, June 23, 2021
• Melanie Bright, The Jane's Interview: Yevhen Marchuk, Ukraine's Minister of Defence, Jane's Defence Weekly, 7 January 2004
• John Jaworsky, "Ukraine's Armed Forces and Military Policy," Harvard Ukrainian Studies Vol. 20, UKRAINE IN THE WORLD: Studies in the International Relations and Security Structure of a Newly Independent State (1996), pp. 223–247
• Kuzio, T., "Ukrainian Armed Forces in Crisis," Jane's Intelligence Review, 1995, Vol. 7; No. 7, page 305
• Kuzio, T., "The organization of Ukraine's forces," Jane's Intelligence Review, June 1996, Vol. 8; No. 6, pages 254–258
• Ben Lombardia, "Ukrainian armed forces: Defence expenditure and military reform," The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, Volume 14, Issue 3, 2001, pages 31–68
• Mychajlyszyn, Natalie (2002). "Civil-Military Relations in Post-Soviet Ukraine: Implciations for Domestic and Regional Stability". Armed Forces & Society. Interuniversity Seminar on Armed Forces and Society. 28 (3): 455–479. doi:10.1177/0095327x0202800306. S2CID 145268260.
• Walter Parchomenko, "Prospects for Genuine Reform in Ukraine's Security Forces," Armed Forces & Society, 2002, Vol. 28, No. 2
• Brigitte Sauerwein, "Rich in Arms, Poor in Tradition," International Defence Review, No. 4, April 1993, 317–318.
• J Sherr, "Ukraine: The Pursuit of Defence Reform in an Unfavourable Context," 2004, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom
• J Sherr, "Into Reverse?: The Dismissal of Ukraine's Minister of Defence," 2004, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom
• James Sherr, 'Ukraine's Defence Reform: An Update', Conflict Studies Research Centre, 2002
• Sharon L. Wolchik, Ukraine: The Search for a National Identity. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2000
• Steven J Zaloga, "Armed Forces in Ukraine," Jane's Intelligence Review, March 1992, p. 135
• Jane's Intelligence Review, September 1993, re Crimea
• Woff, Richard, Armed Forces of the Former Soviet Union: Evolution, Structure and Personalities. London: Brassey's, c. 1996.

External links

• Official Website of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense: in English and in Ukrainian (in English and Ukrainian)
• Viysko Ukrayiny – Ministry of Defense' Army of Ukraine magazine (in Ukrainian)
• Ukraine Defence White Book: 2005 2006 2007 2013 2014 2015 2016
• "Defense-Express" specialized news agency (a project of Ukrainian "Center for Army Conversion and Disarmament Studies" NGO; subscription needed for most of the material)
• Alexander J. Motyl, At Last, Military Reform makes headway in Ukraine^[usurped!], World Affairs, 3 February 2016.
• Ukrainian Army military history magazine (including info on insignia and military museums)
• Polyakov, Leonid. "Corruption Obstructs Reforms in the Ukrainian Armed Forces". isn.ethz.ch. Retrieved 9 February 2016. Polyakov was a former deputy defence minister. In this 2013 work, Polyakov said corruption was compromising the performance of Ukraine's defense forces. The author identifies corruption within and outside of the defense agencies and said this corruption has impacted the professionalization of the army, its human resource management, procurement, peacekeeping activities and fiscal management. Unlawful use of military infrastructure through provision of business services for illegal reward became a widespread phenomenon.
• "London, UK-based Institute for Strategic Studies appraises Ukrainian Armed Forces' personnel as 295,500-strong". Ukrinform. 25 October 2003. Information on Ukrainian military human and weapons resources.