After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine retained its Soviet-era army equipment. The Armed Forces were systematically downsized and underinvested in after 1991. As a result, the Ukrainian army had very little of its Soviet equipment in working order by July 2014, and most systems had become antiquated. Personnel numbers had shrunk and training, command, and support functions needed improvement.[3] After the start of the war in Donbas in April 2014 in eastern Ukraine, Ukraine embarked on a program to enlarge and modernise its armed forces.[3][4][5] Personnel in the Ukrainian Armed Forces overall climbed from 129,950 in March 2014[6] to 204,000 active personnel in May 2015,[7] with 169,000 soldiers in the Ground Forces branch as of 2016.[8][needs update] In 2016, 75% of the army consisted of contract servicemen.[9][needs update] Since 2014, Ukraine's ground forces have also been equipped with increasingly modern tanks, APCs, and many other types of combat equipment.[10]
Since 2015, with the adoption of the Defenders Day holiday, certain traditions of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army of World War II have been incorporated into the ethos and culture of the Ground Forces.
The August 1991 Soviet coup attempt began the process of splitting the Soviet military. Leonid Kravchuk, the head of the Ukrainian Supreme Soviet, declared on 24 August 1991 the formation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the subordination of Soviet military units in Ukraine, and the creation of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. On 3 September 1991 the Soviet Air Force major general Kostyantyn Morozov was appointed the first Minister of Defense of Ukraine by the Verkhovna Rada, the new parliament. In October the Council of Ministers declared that a Ukrainian army would be created with 450,000 troops and the Ukrainian parliament adopted several laws that created the framework for the creation of Ukrainian ground, naval, and air forces, as well as a national guard. The Soviet defense ministry was opposed to this initially, but by early November they started talks with the Ukrainian defense ministry to manage the division of Soviet forces in Ukraine.[11]
The Ground Forces were officially established on 6 December 1991 as part of the armed forces, with a presidential decree on 12 December - from then on marked as Ground Forces Day - being the first that designated the Soviet Army's Ukrainian formations as the ground component of the new force.
After their establishment, in 1992 the Ukrainian Ground Forces included approximately 245,000 personnel[12] and 6,500 tanks.[13]
The government made an effort to get all troops to take an oath of allegiance to Ukraine to prevent a possible coup. All personnel were required to either take the oath, or to retire or return to their home republic. The Ukrainian oath of loyalty that was administered was not based on ethnicity or linguistics but on a civic identity, and turned the Soviet military in Ukraine into the Ukrainian military. As of February 1992 about 80% of personnel had taken the oath, according to Defense Minister Morozov. Laws establishing regulations the personnel and technical basis for the military were passed in 1992, which included keeping the Soviet rank structure, with the exception of the rank of marshal, which was replaced with general of the army of Ukraine. It was planned that the restructuring of the entire Armed Forces would take place until 1995.[11]
Between June and August 1993, the first redesignation of armies to army corps appears to have taken place.[15] While the post of Chief of Ground Forces had been created in early 1992, it was over two years before the first holder, Colonel General Vasily Sobkov, was appointed on 7 April 1994.[16] The legal framework for the Ground Forces was defined in Article 4 of the law 'On the Armed Forces of Ukraine.' At that time, the Ground Forces had no separate command body, and were directly subordinate to the Ukrainian General Staff.[citation needed]
The creation of the Ground Forces as a separate branch of the young AFU was formalised by Presidential Decree 368/96 of 23 May 1996, 'On the Ground Forces of Ukraine.'[17] That year both the Ground Forces Command was formed and the 1st Army Corps was reorganised as the Northern Territorial Operational Command (which became the Northern Operational Command in 1998). In 1997 the Carpathian Military District was reorganised as Operational Command West.
From 1992 to 1997, the forces of the Kyiv MD were transferred to the Odesa MD, and the Odesa MD's headquarters moved to Donetsk.[18] A new 2nd Army Corps was formed in the Odesa MD. Armies were converted to army corps, and motor rifle divisions converted into mechanised divisions or brigades. Pairs of attack helicopter regiments were combined to form army aviation brigades.[citation needed]
In a December 1996 speech, President Leonid Kuchma revealed that as many as 191 mechanised infantry and tank battalions were rated not ready, adding,"This is especially dangerous in the forward-based units securing the nation's borders."[19]
Under a plan promulgated in 2000, the Ground Forces were to reduce the number of troops from 300,000 to 240,000 by 2015, and an ultimate change from a partial conscript-based force to a fully professional military.[20] The armed forces received little more than half of the Hr 68 million it was promised for reform in 2001, but managed to disband nine regiments and close 21 local military bases.[nb 1]
In 2005–06, the Northern Operational Command was reorganised as Territorial Directorate "North". It was tasked with territorial defence, mobilisation training, and preparation of reserves.[21][nb 2]
From 1991 the Ukrainian Ground Forces bought its military equipment only from Russia and other CIS states, as well as locally producing some of their own equipment.[3][4] Until 2014 and the start of the war in Donbas, the defence industry in Ukraine produced equipment mostly for export.[23][3]
Ukrainian troops in 2013, a year before the Crimean crisis
In the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution, Russian special forces in unmarked uniforms began surrounding Ukrainian military bases on the Crimean peninsula before capturing them individually using a mixture of attrition and threats.[24] Over the following weeks the Russian Armed Forces consolidated control of the peninsula and established road blocks to cut off the possibility of Ukraine sending reinforcements from the mainland.[25] The takeover of Crimea was largely bloodless, as the Ukrainian soldiers there did not fight back.[26] By the end of March, all remaining Ukrainian troops were ordered to pull out of Crimea.[27]
The Ukrainian army was considered to be in a poor state during and after the annexation, with only 6,000 of its troops ready for combat and many of its vehicles lacking batteries.[28] After Russia's annexation only 6,000 of the 20,300 Ukrainian soldiers stationed in Crimea before the annexation left the peninsula. The rest stayed in Crimea and defected to Russia.[29][30]
In the early months of the war in Donbas that erupted in 2014 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.[31][32]
By February 2018 the Ukrainian Armed Forces were larger and better equipped, numbering 200,000 active-service military personnel. Most of the volunteer soldiers of the territorial defence battalions were integrated into the Ukrainian army.[33]
Within the reporting period of 16 November 2017 to 15 February 2018 a United NationsOHCHR monitoring mission documented 115 cases of credible allegations of human rights abuses committed by Russia and its proxy forces.[34] The nature of the crimes ranges from enforced disappearances, looting of civilian property, torture, rape and sexual violence up to political repression and extrajudicial killings.[34]
On 24 February 2022, Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.[35] The Ground Forces have been participants in most of the land combat actions of the ongoing war. The influx of Western material and supplies to the branch before and during the conflict as well as mobilisation efforts have resulted in a massive expansion of the force, in addition to ongoing force modernisation.
Ukrainian special forces soldiers during an exercise in November 2015Ukrainian soldier and Canadian soldier conversing with each other during the 2014 Rapid Trident exercise in Yavoriv, Ukraine
Training in 2006 was aimed at developing mobility and combat readiness of the forces.[36] The Ukrainian Armed Forces took advantage of the opportunities provided by UN exercises and exercises where Ukraine, NATO members, and other partners participated.[36][37]
Training resulted in 6,000 combat-ready troops in the spring of 2014 of Ukraine's (then) 129,950 active military personnel.[28][38] In 2016 the Ukrainian army had more than 200,000 combat-ready soldiers of its 260,000 active personnel.[7][39]
It appears that the SAS has left behind forces to train Ukrainian soldiers. At least two officers from the SAS were confirmed as having been in Ukraine, each being posted with a different battalion near Kyiv; emphasis has been training Ukrainian soldiers how to use the Anglo-Swedish NLAW. Other soldiers have actually been trained in the UK, according to the article, with the training course being approximately two weeks long for each participant.[41] This follows an earlier report of British special forces being left behind in Ukraine. This includes the SAS, the Special Boat Service, and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment. Other contributors appear to be unnamed special forces from Eastern European countries. These forces are training the Ukrainian military in sabotage, counter-insurgency, and sniping.[42]
Education centres
In 2007 the network of exercise and training ranges and centres was optimized, decreasing their number and increasing the specialization of each centre.[43]
Schooling occurs at:
169th Training Centre – (Chernihiv) – home to army initial training, for all personnel entering the army, it also houses the 169th Teaching Brigade which specializes in the tactics and skills of tankers and mechanised/motorised infantrymen
Korolev Signals Institute – (Zhytomyr) – teaches theory and practice of electromagnetic waves and their uses in communication, radio location, eavesdropping, and jamming
Military Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technologies – (Kyiv) – teaches the following subjects: computer science, systems engineering, telecommunications, security information and communication systems, systems of technical protection of information, and electronic military administration[44]
A Ukrainian soldier in a KrAZ Spartan preparing to engage the opposition force during an air assault at Exercise Rapid Trident 16 July 3, 2016A Ukrainian army T-64BM during a training exercise
Mechanised infantry and armoured forces brigades constitute the largest and primary components of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. Their primary objectives in the case of wartime operations are: capturing and holding targets, maintaining positions, defending against attack, penetrating enemy lines, and defeating enemy forces.
The mechanised infantry and armoured forces are equipped with a combination of Soviet-made (part of them modernised), more modern Ukrainian-made, and increasingly Western-made armoured vehicles, including variants of the T-80, T-64,[45] (T-64BV Model 2017, T-64BV), T-64BM "Bulat"[46] and T-72UA1 main battle tanks,[47][48][49]BTR-4, BTR-60, BTR-70, and BTR-80 wheeled armoured personnel carriers, and BMP-1, BMP-2, and BMD-2 infantry combat vehicles.
In the years after the fall of the Soviet Union, a large number of the former Soviet mechanised infantry and armoured formations on Ukrainian soil were disbanded – the IISS said the numbers dropped from 14 divisions in 1992, to two divisions, six brigades, and one independent regiment in 2008.[50] Today, the key echelon for mechanised and armoured formations is the brigade.[citation needed]
The mechanised infantry brigades, together with the newer motorised infantry and assault infantry brigades, constitute the Infantry Corps of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. The Armoured Forces also constitute their own corps.
Established in 1991, these two corps are the oldest combat arms of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.
Light infantry brigades
The Ukrainian Ground Forces also include two mountain assault infantry brigades, two Jäger infantry brigades, and four reserve rifle infantry brigades. All of these units are part of the Infantry Corps and alongside those of Soviet made manufacture, these are being supplied with Western products and arms systems locally produced by the Ukrainian defence industry.[51]
Mil Mi-24 helicopters of the Ukrainian Army Aviation
The Ukrainian Army Aviation provides reconnaissance, tactical fire support and air transport for the Ukrainian Ground Forces in support of its paramount responsibilities to the nation. As of 2017 Ukraine's army fields four Army Aviation brigades in an Army Aviation Command directly subordinated to the Ground Forces HQ, each in support of operational commands of the UGF:
The RF&FA (Rocket Forces and Field Artillery) Corps constitute one of the oldest combat support corps of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. Established 1991 on the basis of Soviet Army artillery divisions assigned to the AFU and the field artillery of the UGF's divisions, units of this corps provide artillery fires support to formations of the Ground Forces in combat operations and in wartime operational support of other branches of the AFU in fulfillment of its missions to the nation.
Ground Forces Air Defence Missile Artillery
The Army Anti-Air Defence Missile Artillery regiments and brigade-level battalions or regiments in the infantry and armoured brigades are responsible for protecting troops against enemy air attacks anywhere on the battlefield, and while in combat or in static protection of UGF facilities. The army air defence branch is equipped with a variety of effective surface-to-air missile systems of the air defence regiments and anti-aircraft missile and artillery complexes under the brigades' air defence battalions. Brigade level units are characterized by their high rate of fire, vitality, maneuverability, and capability of action under all conditions of modern combat arms operations. Surface-to-air missile systems and complexes of operational command level are characterised by their long range and firepower and are equipped with surface-to-air missile complexes Osa, Buk, Buk-M1, and Tor. Anti-aircraft missile and artillery complexes that are of brigade level are equipped with various ex-Soviet and Western systems like the Tunguska-M1, IglaMANPADS system, Strela, and Shilka anti-aircraft missile systems.[52]
Ukrainian S-300P launchers
Formed in 1992, it is also one of the oldest combat support corps of the Ground Forces.
Structure
Ukrainian three man anti-tank team moving on foot in a winter maneuver, carrying a Stugna-P ATGM
The war in Donbas caused a radical reform of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in general and the Ukrainian Ground Forces in particular; it built and expanded on the 2011 structure.[53] As of 2022 the structure is the following:[54]
Ground Forces Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (Military Unit [MU] А0105), Kyiv.[55][56]
57th Aviation Base [for maintenance, repair and supply of the army aviation] (MU А3595) - Brody, Lviv Oblast
Territorial Defence Forces Command - Commander of Territorial Defence [Forces] of the Ground Forces Command
Information and Telecommunications Nod of the TDFC - Kyiv
Support units directly subordinated to the TDFC
Four Territorial Defence directorates under the four regional commands of the ground forces. Manoeuver elements include Territorial Defence brigades, made up of Territorial Defence battalions and support units and stand-alone separate rifle battalions. Each Ukrainian oblast is covered by its own Territorial Defence Zone, which commands one separate territorial defence brigade and one separate rifle battalion of higher mobility and readiness. In January 2022 the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence had publicised information about its plans for the expansion of the territorial defence forces. The composition of the Territorial Defende Forces (Сил ТрО ЗСУ) should reach 25 brigades for the 25 regions ('один регіон – одна бригада', English: 'one region – one brigade', for the 24 Oblasts and the capitol city of Kyiv) with up to 150 battalions ('один батальйон на район' or 'one battalion per raion') for a peacetime strength of up to 10,000 people and over 130,000 upon wartime mobilisation.[58]
Educational institutions
Training establishments units directly subordinated to the Ground Forces Command:[54]
Operational Command East (MU 1314) is headquartered in Dnipro and has an area of responsibility covering Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, and Kharkiv Oblasts with the Russian-occupied territory of Crimea nominally attached to it as the Separate Ground Forces Area (Окремий військово-сухопутний район). OC East is the general command responsible for frontline regular UGF formations fighting in the war in Donbas and the ongoing Russian invasion.
Headquarters, Dnipro[55][56] (as the result of the war in Donbas, a split from OC "South")
Combat support units:
8th Combat Command Group,
133rd Security and Service Battalion (MU А3750), Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
227th Automobile Battalion (MU А1823), Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
121st Signal Regiment (MU А1214), Cherkaske, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast[55][56]
368th Information and Telecommunications Nod (MU А2326), Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
The army's Reserve Corps (Ukrainian:Корпус резерву) is a new formation, directly subordinated to the General Staff. It is also called the Army Strategic Reserve Corps. Its main function is to prepare and administer reservists of the ground forces. According to plans the Reserve Corps was to be fully operational by 2020 with reserve servicemen in three separate categories:[61]
Operational Reserve of the First Line (оперативний резерв першої черги) – includes about 50,000 reserve servicemen with extensive combat training (60 days of combat training every two years) in the reserve companies and batteries of the operational army brigades and regiments, with those reservists to become casualty replacements in wartime
Operational Reserve of the Second Line (оперативний резерв другої черги) – includes reserve servicemen with combat training of 30 days every two years in Territorial Defence brigades. In addition, the command personnel will undergo 10 days training cycles yearly. The 4th Army Corps should also act as the pool formation for those territorial brigades and transfer them to the ground forces' operational commands in wartime as needed.
Mobilisation Reserve (мобілізаційний резерв) – includes all Ukrainian citizens, who are eligible for mobilisation in case of war, but do not belong to the first or the second line operational reserve. They can be used to form support units or to boost the service numbers of the territorial brigades as casualty replacements.
In that organisation, the Reserve Corps is currently engaged in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and its reservists have fought in every ground operation of the conflict.
Location of Ukrainian Ground Forces units Tank, Mechanized,
Motorized, Mountain Assault, Artillery, Rocket Artillery, Army Aviation Regiments: Rocket Artillery, Anti-Aircraft Missile Artillery, Engineer units in Italics are directly subordinated to Ground Forces Command
As part of the new uniforms the Ukrainian Ground Forces unveiled in August 2016, the stars that traditionally adorn shoulder straps in the militaries of post-Soviet states were replaced by diamonds.[62]
The Ukrainian army unveiled its new uniforms on 24 August 2016 (Independence Day of Ukraine).[62] The new uniforms are modeled on British military styles, having a modern pixelated digital camouflage pattern.[62] They also incorporate details from the uniforms worn by the Ukrainian People's Army.[62] The new cap includes an insignia of a Ukrainian Cossack grasping a cross.[62]
Armour
The majority of tanks and armoured vehicles in Ukrainian service as of 2022 were of Soviet origin, such as the T-64 and T-72 tank families, the BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle, and the BTR-60 armoured personnel carrier.[64] Tank donations from the West to Ukraine have been mostly T-72 variants, with the majority of Western tanks being from the Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 families.[65] Western armoured vehicles donated to Ukraine include the Bradley and Marder infantry fighting vehicles, the Stryker, M113, and Roshel Senator armoured personnel carriers, and the Humvee family of light military vehicles.[66]
Artillery
Before Western artillery systems started being donated in 2022, Ukraine operated an artillery park that mostly consisted of older Soviet-designed equipment. Soviet self-propelled guns in Ukrainian service include the 2S1 Carnation, the 2S3 Acacia, the 2S7 Pion, and the 2S19 Msta-S.[64][67] The Ukrainian army also operates the BM-27 and BM-30 rocket artillery systems, with the D-20 and Msta-B towed guns being used primarily by motorised infantry formations.[67] Western artillery donated to Ukraine consists mostly of the M777 towed howitzer, the M119[68] and L119 towed field guns, the M109 and AHS Krab self-propelled howitzers, and the HIMARS and M270 rocket artillery systems.[69]
Henadii Lachkov, commander of the Ukrainian contingent in Iraq, kissing his country's flag
Ukraine deployed a sizable contingent of troops to Iraq as part of the Iraq War, which were stationed near Kut. Ukraine's troop deployment was the second largest of all those from former Soviet states besides Georgia and Ukraine deployed more soldiers to Iraq than many other NATO members such as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Ukraine also suffered the fifth highest casualty toll during the war, with only Polish, Italian, British, and US forces suffering heavier losses.[71]
From 2003 to 2005 over 1,700 Ukrainian soldiers were deployed to Iraq, making up the third-largest contingent at the time. They were designated as the 5th Mechanised Brigade. Much as in Ukraine's mission to Kosovo, the troops deployed were contract soldiers and not conscripts. Ukraine began to severely draw down its troop levels in Iraq in 2005 due to mounting casualties and the political toxicity of the conflict. By 2005 only 876 soldiers, or roughly half of the original contingent were deployed, and by year’s end troop levels dropped to below 100. In 2008, one year before the official end of the US military mission, President Viktor Yushchenko ordered all remaining troops in Iraq to return home, marking an official end of Ukraine's mission.[72]
Afghanistan
Between 2001 and 2021, Ukraine allowed US military cargo planes to fly over and refuel on Ukrainian soil on their way to Afghanistan. In 2007 Ukraine deployed a detachment of the 143rd De-Mining Centre of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to Afghanistan. Ukraine had kept a team of soldiers deployed to Afghanistan as part of the ISAF from 2007 to 2021, which mostly consisted of pilots, medical officers, and bomb disposal experts.[73]
Ukrainian pilots were responsible for training pilots of the Afghan Air Force on the operation of several aircraft as Afghan forces consisted of mostly Soviet designed aircraft such as the Mi-17, which Ukrainian troops were very familiar with. In 2013, the contingent of troops in Afghanistan totaled 26 troops. In 2014 the Ukrainian contingent was further drawn down and the team included 8 bomb disposal experts and several medical officers.[73]
Ukrainian peacekeeping forces have been deployed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Sudan and South Sudan, and Cote d'Ivoire. Ukrainian forces have also been requested to take a more active role in the Northern Mali Conflict of 2012 in battling Islamic militants. One of the largest deployments is the 18th Separate Helicopter Unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces which consisted of 160 servicemen and four Mi-24P helicopters and was deployed to the DRC in 2011.[75]
Ukraine provides combat veterans with various benefits. Ukrainians who have served in World War II, the Soviet–Afghan War, or as liquidators at the Chernobyl disaster are eligible for benefits such as a monthly allowance, a discount on medical and pharmacy services, free use of public transportation, additional vacation days from work, having priority for retention in case of work layoffs, easier loan access and approval process, preference when applying for security related positions, priority when applying to vocation school or trade school, and electricity, gas, and housing subsidies. Veterans are also eligible to stay at military sanatoriums, provided there is available space.[76]
Since gaining independence, Ukraine has deployed troops to conflicts in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan, which has created a new generation of veterans separate from those who served in the Soviet forces. Most recently the government passed a law extending veteran benefits to Ukrainian troops participating in the war in Donbas. 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 that World War II, Chernobyl, and Afghanistan veterans from other Soviet states who moved to Ukraine received similar benefits. As Ukraine has participated in numerous NATO-led conflicts since its independence, it is unclear if NATO veterans would be extended these benefits.[76]
Veteran groups are not as developed as in the United States, which has numerous well known national organisations 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 in Afghanistan are strikingly similar to the Vietnam veterans of the United States, although the Soviet Union generally kept the public in the dark throughout 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, but the lack of media coverage, and the censorship through the war have ensured that many still remain unaware of their nation's involvement in the conflict.[77] Despite Ukraine having had the 3rd largest contingent of troops in Iraq in 2004, few Ukrainians realize today that their nation also is home to many veterans of the Iraq War. Soldiers who took part in the war in Donbas can receive free land plots.[78] On 22 November 2018, the Ministry for Veterans Affairs was officially established.[79]
^According to the State Program of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reform and development to 2005, the ground forces were to have the biggest ratio of personnel of all services (up to 54%). This ratio was to be based on the missions assigned to the armed forces, and also on the fact that the economy of Ukraine could not support any larger troop numbers. However, the ground forces still has priority in the number of personnel, weapons, military equipment development priorities and the development of their future systems, which were to correspond to modern warfare requirements. The ground forces were planned to closely coordinate their assignments with other army branches, engaging appropriate military arts and equipment. They were to also be involved in law enforcement activities during emergencies, dealing with consequences of technological and natural disasters, providing military assistance to other countries, engaging in international military cooperation activities (UN), and participating in international peacekeeping operations according to international agreements.
^It was reported on 27 July 2005 that '..[o]ver 70 per cent of planned work on [the] disbandment of the Ukrainian armed forces' Northern Operational Command has been completed,' according to the Defence Ministry's press service.[22]
Yuriy Yurchnya, 'The Armed Forces of Ukraine,' Geneva Centre for DCAF, 2010.
Hoyle, Craig (December 2023). World Air Forces 2024 (Report). London: Flight Global Insight. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
Further reading
Tkachuk, P.; Popko, S.; Kharuk, A.; Slobodanyuk, M.; Slyusarenko, A.; Solyar, I.; Kutska, O.; Muravsky, O. (2022). Нарис історії Сухопутних військ Збройних Сил України [Historical outline of the Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, 1991–2021] (PDF) (in Ukrainian). Lviv: NASV. pp. 45–46. ISBN978-617-7689-01-9.
10th Mountain Assault Brigade "Edelweiss"
13th Jäger Infantry Brigade
68th Jäger Infantry Brigade "Oleksa Dovbush"
128th Mountain Assault Brigade "Zakarpattia"
141st Rifle Brigade
142nd Rifle Brigade
143rd Rifle Brigade
144th Rifle Brigade
11th Army Aviation Brigade, Kherson
12th Army Aviation Brigade, Novyi Kalyniv
16th Army Aviation Brigade, Brody
18th Army Aviation Brigade, Poltava
President's Own [Guards] Brigade 'Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky' (MU А0222) - Kyiv[55][56]
19th Missile Brigade Zaporozhian 'Saint Barbara' (MU А4239) - Khmelnytskyi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, armed with the Tochka-U missile complex[55][56]
107th Rocket Artillery Brigade (MU А1546) - Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast, armed with the Vilkha missile complex
27th Rocket Artillery Brigade 'Kish Otaman Petro Kalnyshevsky' (MU А1476) - Sumy, Sumy Oblast, armed with the BM-27 Uragan[55][56]
43rd Artillery Brigade 'Hetman Taras Triasylo' (MU А3085) - Divichki Pereyaslav village near Pyriatyn, Kyiv Oblast, armed with the 2S7 Pion[55][56]
14th Mechanised Brigade 'Roman the Great' (MU A2331), Volodymyr-Volynsky, Volyn Oblast[55][56]
24th Mechanised Brigade 'King Daniel' (MU A0998), Yavoriv, Lviv Oblast[55][56]
128th Mountain Assault Zakarpattia LowlandBrigade 'Zakarpattia' (MU A1556), Mukachevo, Zakarpattia Oblast[55][56]
44th Artillery Brigade 'Danylo Apostol' (MU A1428), Ternopil, Ternopil Oblast[55][56]
100th Volyn Territorial Defence Brigade (cadred) (MU А7028)
104th Rivne Territorial Defence Brigade (cadred) (MU А7032)
103rd Lviv Territorial Defence Brigade (cadred) (MU А7031)
105th Ternopil Territorial Defence Brigade (cadred) (MU А7033)
101st Zakarpattian Territorial Defence Brigade (cadred) (MU А7029)
102nd Ivano-Frankivsk Territorial Defence Brigade (cadred) (MU А7030)
107th Chernivtsi Territorial Defence Brigade (cadred) (MU А7035)
1st Tank Brigade 'Severia' (MU А1815), Honcharivske, Chernihiv Oblast[55]
30th Mechanised Brigade 'Knyaz Konstanty Ostrogski' (MU A0409), Novohrad-Volynskyi, Zhytomyr Oblast[55][56]
58th Motorised Brigade 'Hetman Ivan Vyhovsky' (MU А1376), Konotop, Sumy Oblast[55][56]
61st Mechanised Brigade 'Stepov' (MU A3425), Chernihiv, Chernihiv Oblast
72nd Mechanised Brigade 'Black Zaporizhians' (MU А2167), Bila Tserkva, Kyiv Oblast область[55][56]
26th Artillery Brigade 'Major-General Roman Dashkevich' (MU А3091), Berdychiv, Zhytomyr Oblast[55][56]
112th City of Kyiv Territorial Defence Brigade (cadred) (MU А7040)
114th Kyiv Oblast Territorial Defence Brigade (cadred) (MU А7042)
115th Zhytomyr Territorial Defence Brigade (cadred) (MU А7043)
116th Poltava Territorial Defence Brigade (cadred) (MU А7044)
117th Sumy Territorial Defence Brigade (cadred) (MU А7045)
118th Cherkasy Territorial Defence Brigade (cadred) (MU А7046)
119th Chernihiv Territorial Defence Brigade (cadred) (MU А7047)
28th Mechanised Brigade 'Participants in the First Winter Campaign' (MU А0666), Chornomorske, Odesa Oblast[55][56]
56th Motorised Brigade 'Mariupol' Brigade (MU А0989), Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast[55][56]
57th Motorised Brigade 'Kosh otaman Kost Hordiyenko' (MU В4533), Nova Kakhovka, Kherson Oblast[55][56]
59th Motorised Brigade 'Yakіv Gandzyuk' (MU А1619), Haisyn, Vinnytsia Oblast[55][56]
40th Artillery Brigade 'Grand Duke Vytautas' (MU А2227), Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv Oblast[55][56]
120th Vinnytsia Territorial Defence Brigade (cadred) (MU А7048)
121st Kirovohrad Territorial Defence Brigade (cadred) (MU А7049)
122nd Odesa Territorial Defence Brigade (cadred) (MU А7051)
123rd Mykolaiv Territorial Defence Brigade (cadred) (MU А7052)
124th Kherson Territorial Defence Brigade (cadred) (MU А7053)
17th Kryvyi Rih Tank Brigade Konstantin Pestushko (MU А3283), Kryvyi Rih[55][56]
53rd Mechanised Brigade Knyaz Vladimir Monomakh (MU А0536), Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast[55][56]
54th Mechanised Brigade Hetman Ivan Mazepa (MU А0693), Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast[55][56]
92nd Mechanised Brigade Kosh otaman Ivan Sirko (MU А0501), Chuhuiv, Kharkiv Oblast[55][56]
93rd Mechanised Brigade Kholodny Yar (MU А1302), Cherkaske, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast[55][56]
55th Artillery Brigade Zaporozhian Sich (MU А1978), Zaporizhzhia, Zaporizhzhia Oblast[55][56]
108th Dnipropetrovsk Territorial Defence Brigade (MU А7036)
113th Kharkiv Territorial Defence Brigade (MU А7041)
110th Zaporizhzhia Territorial Defence Brigade (MUА7038)
109th Donetsk Territorial Defence Brigade (MU А7037)
111th Luhansk Territorial Defence Brigade (MU А7039)
3rd Tank "Iron" Brigade
4th Tank Brigade
5th Tank Brigade
33rd Mechanised Brigade
45th Artillery Brigade
60th Mechanised Brigade
63rd Mechanised Brigade
![16th Eng. [uk]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Military_Symbol_-_Friendly_Unit_%28Solid_Light_1.5x1_Frame%29-_Military_Engineers_%28NATO_APP-6%29.svg/20px-Military_Symbol_-_Friendly_Unit_%28Solid_Light_1.5x1_Frame%29-_Military_Engineers_%28NATO_APP-6%29.svg.png){kind=small}
Tank, 
Mechanized,
Motorized, 
Mountain Assault, 
Artillery, 
Rocket Artillery, 
Army Aviation
Anti-Aircraft Missile Artillery, 
Engineer
Ukrainian Ground Forces[63]
A soldier in standard camouflage dress
T-64 main battle tank
Bradley infantry fighting vehicle
M109 self-propelled artillery
HIMARS rocket artillery
Mi-24 attack helicopter
