Military of Ukraine
Encyclopedia
The Armed Forces of Ukraine are the military
of Ukraine
.
Ukraine's stated national policy is Euro-Atlantic
integration, with the European Union
. Ukraine has a "Distinctive Partnership" with 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 operation with its neighbor Poland, in Kosovo. Ukrainian serviceman also serve under NATO command in Iraq, Afghanistan and in Operation Active Endeavour
. Current Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych
considers the current level of co-operation between Ukraine and NATO sufficient. His predecessor Viktor Yushchenko
had asked for Ukrainian membership early 2008. During the 2008 Bucharest summit
NATO declared that Ukraine will become a member of NATO, whenever it wants and when it would correspond the criteria for the accession. 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.
The current Chief of the General Staff
of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is Colonel General Hryhorii Pedchenko.
Military units of other states participate in multinational military exercises with Ukrainian forces in Ukraine regularly. Many of these exercises are held under the NATO co-operation programme Partnership for Peace
.
As the Soviet Union
dissolved in 1990 and 1991, 780,000 Soviet military personnel remained located in Ukraine
’s three military district
s. This mass was not an army but a force grouping, without a national Ministry of Defence, a General Staff
or central organs of command and control. 'This grouping, its inventory of equipment and its officer corps were designed for one purpose: to wage combined arms, coalition, offensive (and nuclear) warfare against NATO on an external front.' At that time, the armed forces of Ukraine included land force formations, one rocket army, four Air Force
armies, a separate air defense army, and the Black Sea Fleet
. Altogether, when established, the Armed Forces of Ukraine included more than 350 ships
, 1,500 combat aircraft, and 1,272 strategic
nuclear war-heads of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
On August 24, 1991, the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada
, enacted a resolution to take jurisdiction over all formations of the armed forces of the Soviet Union stationed on Ukrainian soil, and to establish one of the key agencies, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence
.
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. Included in this was the definition, agreement and ratification of the 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 the region were Ukraine's Mykolaiv
, Kherson
, Zaporizhia Oblast
s, and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Also key for the creation of a Ukrainian military was the 1992 Tashkent Treaty
, which laid out aspirations for a Commonwealth of Independent States
military that would prove 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.
The military and security forces, including the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a number of independent "militarized institutions" (paramilitary
forces) are under the command of the President of Ukraine
, and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rada
parliamentary commission. Ukrainian military tactics and organization are heavily dependent on Cold War
tactics, and former Soviet Armed Forces
organization. Under former President Yushchenko Ukraine was pursuing a policy of independence from Russian dominance, and thus was trying to fully integrate with the West, specifically NATO.
However, Ukraine retains tight military relations with Russia
, mostly inherited from the common Soviet history. Common use of naval bases in Crimea
and joint air defense efforts are the most intense branches of such cooperation. This cooperation is a permanent irritant in bilateral relations. But the country is unable to drop such ties quickly, being economically dependent on Moscow. Furthermore, following the election of current President Victor Yanukovych, ties between Moscow and Kiev have warmed, and those between Kiev and NATO have cooled relative to the Yushchenko years.
Plagued at times by hostile relations with Russia following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has been steadfastly trying to develop its own independent military industry. Notable results of this effort are the Ukrainian-built T-84
main battle tank, currently in service, and the aircraft manufacturer Antonov
. Ukraine received about 30% of the Soviet military industry, which included between 50 and 60 percent of all Ukrainian enterprises
, which employed 40% of its working population. Ukraine was, and still remains, a leader in missile-related technology
. Especially navigation
electronics for combat vessels and submarine
s, guidance system
s, and radar
for military jets
. Tough competition in the world's weapons market obliged Ukraine to consider exporting arms to politically unstable or even aggressive regime
s. Ukraine build its own connections in arms exporting. The first contracts on weapons deliveries to Iran, signed in the middle of 1992, caused negative reactions in the West
, particularly from the United States federal government.
Several unfortunate accidents involving the Armed Forces have occurred since 1992, including the crash of an Air Force Su-27 in the Sknyliv airshow disaster of 2002 and the accidental shooting down of Siberia Airlines Flight 1812
in October 2001.
Ukraine maintains a number of Guards unit
s, tracing their traditions from Soviet Armed Forces
service. A list can be seen at List of guards units of Ukraine.
Women make almost 13% of the armed forces (18.000 persons). There are few female high officers, 2,9% (1.202 women). Contractual military service counts for almost 44% of women. However, this is closely linked to the low salary of such positions: men refuse to serve in these conditions when women accept them.
' 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. Ukraine voluntarily gave up these and its other nuclear weapons during the early 1990s. This was the first time in human history that a country voluntarily gave up the use of strategic nuclear weapons, though the Republic of South Africa was destroying 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
, a technology for making electronic to determine 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) in which the country agreed to give up all nuclear weapon
s, 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 remained 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.
Ukraine has been playing an increasingly larger role in peacekeeping operations. Since 1992, over 30,000 soldiers took part in missions in former Yugoslavia (IFOR
in Bosnia and Herzegovina
, UNPROFOR and UNTAES in Croatia
, KFor
in Serbia
/Kosovo
), Middle East (Southern Lebanon
, Kuwait
, Iraq
), African Continent (Angola
, Sierra Leone
, Liberia
).
Since 1997, Ukraine has been closely working with NATO, and especially Poland. A Ukrainian unit was deployed in Iraq
, 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 is 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.
Although not components of the Armed Forces, these militarized institutions are supposed to fall under Armed Forces' command during war
time.
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
of Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
.
Ukraine's stated national policy is Euro-Atlantic
Atlanticism
Atlanticism is a philosophy of cooperation among Western European and North American nations regarding political, economic, and defense issues, with the purpose to maintain the security of the participating countries, and to protect the values that unite them: "democracy, individual liberty and...
integration, with the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. Ukraine has a "Distinctive Partnership" with NATO and has been an active participant in Partnership for Peace
Partnership for Peace
Partnership for Peace is a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation program aimed at creating trust between NATO and other states in Europe and the former Soviet Union; 22 States are members...
exercises and in peacekeeping in the Balkans. This close relationship with NATO has been most apparent in Ukrainian cooperation and combined peacekeeping operation with its neighbor Poland, in Kosovo. Ukrainian serviceman also serve under NATO command in Iraq, Afghanistan and in Operation Active Endeavour
Operation Active Endeavour
Operation Active Endeavour is a maritime operation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It operates in the Mediterranean Sea and is designed to prevent the movement of terrorists or weapons of mass destruction. It has also collateral benefits in enhanced security of shipping in general...
. Current Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002...
considers the current level of co-operation between Ukraine and NATO sufficient. His predecessor Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko is a former President of Ukraine. He took office on January 23, 2005, following a period of popular unrest known as the Orange Revolution...
had asked for Ukrainian membership early 2008. During the 2008 Bucharest summit
2008 Bucharest summit
The 2008 Bucharest Summit or the 20th NATO Summit was a NATO summit organized in Bucharest, Romania on 2 – 4 April 2008. Among other business, Croatia and Albania were invited to join the alliance. Republic of Macedonia was not invited due to its ongoing naming dispute with Greece...
NATO declared that Ukraine will become a member of NATO, whenever it wants and when it would correspond the criteria for the accession. Ukrainian President
President of Ukraine
Prior to the formation of the modern Ukrainian presidency, the previous Ukrainian head of state office was officially established in exile by Andriy Livytskyi. At first the de facto leader of nation was the president of the Central Rada at early years of the Ukrainian People's Republic, while the...
Yanukovych
Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002...
opted to keep Ukraine a non-aligned state. This materialized on June 3, 2010 when the Ukrainian parliament
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...
excluded, with 226 votes, the goal of "integration into Euro-Atlantic security and NATO membership" from the country's national security strategy.
The current Chief of the General Staff
Chief of the General Staff (Ukraine)
The Chief of the General Staff is the chief of staff of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He is appointed by the President of Ukraine. If the Minister of Ukraine is a civilian the Chief of the General Staff becomes the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces...
of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is Colonel General Hryhorii Pedchenko.
Military units of other states participate in multinational military exercises with Ukrainian forces in Ukraine regularly. Many of these exercises are held under the NATO co-operation programme Partnership for Peace
Partnership for Peace
Partnership for Peace is a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation program aimed at creating trust between NATO and other states in Europe and the former Soviet Union; 22 States are members...
.
History
The importance of Ukrainians has a very long and honorable military tradition stretching back for centuries with in the Russian Empire and later in the Soviet Union, brining many victories and and fame.As the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
dissolved in 1990 and 1991, 780,000 Soviet military personnel remained located in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
’s three military district
Military district
Military districts are formations of a state's armed forces which are responsible for a certain area of territory. They are often more responsible for administrative than operational matters, and in countries with conscript forces, often handle parts of the conscription cycle.Navies have also used...
s. This mass was not an army but a force grouping, without a national Ministry of Defence, a General Staff
General Staff
A military staff, often referred to as General Staff, Army Staff, Navy Staff or Air Staff within the individual services, is a group of officers and enlisted personnel that provides a bi-directional flow of information between a commanding officer and subordinate military units...
or central organs of command and control. 'This grouping, its inventory of equipment and its officer corps were designed for one purpose: to wage combined arms, coalition, offensive (and nuclear) warfare against NATO on an external front.' At that time, the armed forces of Ukraine included land force formations, one rocket army, four Air Force
Air force
An air force, also known in some countries as an air army, is in the broadest sense, the national military organization that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army, navy or...
armies, a separate air defense army, and the Black Sea Fleet
Black Sea Fleet
The Black Sea Fleet is a large operational-strategic sub-unit of the Russian Navy, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since the late 18th century. It is based in various harbors of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov....
. Altogether, when established, the Armed Forces of Ukraine included more than 350 ships
Warship
A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
, 1,500 combat aircraft, and 1,272 strategic
Military strategy
Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired strategic goals. Derived from the Greek strategos, strategy when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow sense as the "art of the general", 'the art of arrangement' of troops...
nuclear war-heads of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
On August 24, 1991, the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...
, enacted a resolution to take jurisdiction over all formations of the armed forces of the Soviet Union stationed on Ukrainian soil, and to establish one of the key agencies, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (Ukraine)
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine was established on September 24, 1991, one month after Ukraine's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. The ministry was in charge of reorganizing all Soviet forces on the Ukrainian terrain under its command...
.
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. Included in this was the definition, agreement and ratification of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe
Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe
The original Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe was negotiated and concluded during the last years of the Cold War and established comprehensive limits on key categories of conventional military equipment in Europe and mandated the destruction of excess weaponry...
(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 the region were Ukraine's Mykolaiv
Mykolaiv Oblast
Mykolaiv Oblast is an oblast of Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Mykolayiv.-Geography:The Mykolaiv Oblast is located in the southern half of Ukraine...
, Kherson
Kherson Oblast
Kherson Oblast is an oblast in southern Ukraine, just north of Crimea. Its administrative center is Kherson. The area of the region is 29000 km², its population is 1.12 million.Important cities in the oblast include:...
, Zaporizhia Oblast
Zaporizhia Oblast
Zaporizhia Oblast is an oblast of southern Ukraine. Its capital is Zaporizhia.This oblast is an important part of Ukraine's industry and agriculture.-Geography:...
s, and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Also key for the creation of a Ukrainian military was the 1992 Tashkent Treaty
Collective Security Treaty Organization
The Collective Security Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military alliance which was signed on 15 May 1992. On 7 October 2002, the Presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan signed a charter in Tashkent founding the CSTO.Nikolai Bordyuzha was appointed...
, which laid out aspirations for a Commonwealth of Independent States
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
military that would prove 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.
The military and security forces, including the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a number of independent "militarized institutions" (paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
forces) are under the command of the President of Ukraine
President of Ukraine
Prior to the formation of the modern Ukrainian presidency, the previous Ukrainian head of state office was officially established in exile by Andriy Livytskyi. At first the de facto leader of nation was the president of the Central Rada at early years of the Ukrainian People's Republic, while the...
, and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rada
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...
parliamentary commission. Ukrainian military tactics and organization are heavily dependent on Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
tactics, and former Soviet Armed Forces
Soviet Armed Forces
The Soviet Armed Forces, also called the Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Armed Forces of the Soviet Union refers to the armed forces of the Russian SFSR , and Soviet Union from their beginnings in the...
organization. Under former President Yushchenko Ukraine was pursuing a policy of independence from Russian dominance, and thus was trying to fully integrate with the West, specifically NATO.
However, Ukraine retains tight military relations with Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, mostly inherited from the common Soviet history. Common use of naval bases in Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
and joint air defense efforts are the most intense branches of such cooperation. This cooperation is a permanent irritant in bilateral relations. But the country is unable to drop such ties quickly, being economically dependent on Moscow. Furthermore, following the election of current President Victor Yanukovych, ties between Moscow and Kiev have warmed, and those between Kiev and NATO have cooled relative to the Yushchenko years.
Plagued at times by hostile relations with Russia following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has been steadfastly trying to develop its own independent military industry. Notable results of this effort are the Ukrainian-built T-84
T-84
The T-84 is a Ukrainian main battle tank, a development of the Soviet T-80 main battle tank. It was first built in 1994 and entered service in the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 1999. The T-84 is based on the diesel-engined T-80 version, the T-80UD...
main battle tank, currently in service, and the aircraft manufacturer Antonov
Antonov
Antonov, or Antonov Aeronautical Scientist/Technical Complex , formerly the Antonov Design Bureau, is a Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing and services company with particular expertise in the field of very large aircraft construction. Antonov ASTC is a state-owned commercial company...
. Ukraine received about 30% of the Soviet military industry, which included between 50 and 60 percent of all Ukrainian enterprises
Company
A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...
, which employed 40% of its working population. Ukraine was, and still remains, a leader in missile-related technology
Missile
Though a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...
. Especially navigation
Navigation
Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...
electronics for combat vessels and submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s, guidance system
Guidance system
A guidance system is a device or group of devices used to navigate a ship, aircraft, missile, rocket, satellite, or other craft. Typically, this refers to a system that navigates without direct or continuous human control...
s, and radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
for military jets
Jet aircraft
A jet aircraft is an aircraft propelled by jet engines. Jet aircraft generally fly much faster than propeller-powered aircraft and at higher altitudes – as high as . At these altitudes, jet engines achieve maximum efficiency over long distances. The engines in propeller-powered aircraft...
. Tough competition in the world's weapons market obliged Ukraine to consider exporting arms to politically unstable or even aggressive regime
Regime
The word regime refers to a set of conditions, most often of a political nature.-Politics:...
s. Ukraine build its own connections in arms exporting. The first contracts on weapons deliveries to Iran, signed in the middle of 1992, caused negative reactions in the West
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, particularly from the United States federal government.
Several unfortunate accidents involving the Armed Forces have occurred since 1992, including the crash of an Air Force Su-27 in the Sknyliv airshow disaster of 2002 and the accidental shooting down of Siberia Airlines Flight 1812
Siberia Airlines Flight 1812
Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 crashed over the Black Sea on 4 October 2001, en route from Tel Aviv, Israel to Novosibirsk, Russia. The plane, a Soviet-made Tupolev Tu-154, carried an estimated 66 passengers and 12 crew members. No one on board survived...
in October 2001.
Organization
The Ukrainian armed forces are largely made up of conscripts. The total personnel (including 41,000 civilian workers) numbers at the end of 2010 will be 200,000. The branch structure is as follows:- Ground ForcesUkrainian Ground ForcesThe Ukrainian Ground Forces are the land force component of the Military of Ukraine. They were formed from Soviet Army formations, units, and establishments, including three military districts , that were on Ukrainian soil when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990-92.Between the fall of the USSR and...
: 73,300 personnel - Air ForceUkrainian Air ForceThe Ukrainian Air Force is a part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ukrainian Air Force Command and headquarters are located in the city of Vinnytsia....
: 46,000 personnel - NavyUkrainian NavyThe Ukrainian Naval Forces is the navy of Ukraine and part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It was established in 1992. It consists of 5 branches: surface forces, submarine forces, Navy aviation, coast rocket-artillery and marines...
: 15,000 personnel
Ukraine maintains a number of Guards unit
Guards unit
Guards units are elite units and formations in the armed forces of the former Soviet Union, Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. These units were awarded Guards status after distinguishing themselves in service, and are considered to have elite status. The Guards designation originated during the...
s, tracing their traditions from Soviet Armed Forces
Soviet Armed Forces
The Soviet Armed Forces, also called the Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Armed Forces of the Soviet Union refers to the armed forces of the Russian SFSR , and Soviet Union from their beginnings in the...
service. A list can be seen at List of guards units of Ukraine.
Women make almost 13% of the armed forces (18.000 persons). There are few female high officers, 2,9% (1.202 women). Contractual military service counts for almost 44% of women. However, this is closely linked to the low salary of such positions: men refuse to serve in these conditions when women accept them.
Military education
- Sevastopol Nakhimov Naval SchoolNakhimov Naval SchoolThe Nakhimov Naval School or simply Nakhimov School is a form of military education for teenagers introduced in the Soviet Union and once also located in other cities. They are named after Imperial Russian admiral Pavel Nakhimov....
- Kharkiv Air Force University of Ivan Kozhedub
- National Defense University of Ukraine
Arms Control and Disarmament
Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited two divisions of the Strategic Rocket ForcesStrategic Rocket Forces
The Strategic Missile Troops or Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation or RVSN RF , transliteration: Raketnye voyska strategicheskogo naznacheniya Rossiyskoy Federatsii, literally Missile Troops of Strategic Designation of the Russian Federation) are a military branch of the Russian...
' 43rd Rocket Army (HQ Vinnytsia), the 19th Rocket Division (Khmelnytskyi
Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine
Khmelnytskyi is a city in Ukraine in the region of Podillia. It is located on the Southern Buh River and about from the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. The town's original name was Płoskirów, later Proskurov, but in 1954 was renamed Khmelnytskyi. It is the center of the Khmelnytskyi Oblast in western...
) (90? UR-100N/SS-19/RS-18) and the 46th Rocket Division at Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv Oblast
Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv Oblast
Pervomaisk is a city in Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine and the center of the Pervomaiskyi Raion. It is located on the Southern Bug river which bisects the city...
, equipped with 40 SS-19, and 46 silo-mounted RT-23 Molodets
RT-23 Molodets
The RT-23 was a Soviet ICBM developed and produced by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau before 1991. It is cold launched, and comes in silo and railway car based variants...
/SS-24s. Ukraine voluntarily gave up these and its other nuclear weapons during the early 1990s. This was the first time in human history that a country voluntarily gave up the use of strategic nuclear weapons, though the Republic of South Africa was destroying its small tactical nuclear weapons program at about the same time.
Enriched uranium
Enriched uranium is a kind of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium is 99.284% 238U isotope, with 235U only constituting about 0.711% of its weight...
, which the United States wanted to buy from the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology. Ukraine also has two uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
mining and processing factories, a heavy water plant
Heavy water
Heavy water is water highly enriched in the hydrogen isotope deuterium; e.g., heavy water used in CANDU reactors is 99.75% enriched by hydrogen atom-fraction...
, a technology for making electronic to determine the isotopic
Isotope
Isotopes are variants of atoms of a particular chemical element, which have differing numbers of neutrons. Atoms of a particular element by definition must contain the same number of protons but may have a distinct number of neutrons which differs from atom to atom, without changing the designation...
composition of fissionable
Nuclear fission
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts , often producing free neutrons and photons , and releasing a tremendous amount of energy...
materials. Ukraine has deposits of uranium that are among the world’s richest. In May 1992, Ukraine signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) in which the country agreed to give up all nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
s, and to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to...
as a non-nuclear weapon state. Ukraine ratified the treaty in 1994, and as of January 1, 1996, no military nuclear equipment or materials remained on Ukrainian territory.
On 13 May 1994, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
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
Missile
Though a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...
-related equipment and technology according to the MTCR Guidelines.
Recent operations
IFOR
The Implementation Force was a NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force in Bosnia and Herzegovina under a one-year mandate from 20 December 1995 to 20 December 1996 under the codename Operation Joint Endeavour. Its task was to implement the military Annexes of The General Framework Agreement for...
in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, UNPROFOR and UNTAES in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, KFor
KFOR
The Kosovo Force is a NATO-led international peacekeeping force responsible for establishing a secure environment in Kosovo.KFOR entered Kosovo on 12 June 1999 under a United Nations mandate, two days after the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1244...
in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
/Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
), Middle East (Southern Lebanon
Southern Lebanon
Southern Lebanon is the geographical area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. These two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s...
, Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
), African Continent (Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
, Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
).
Since 1997, Ukraine has been closely working with NATO, and especially Poland. A Ukrainian unit was deployed in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, as part of the multinational force in Iraq under Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
command. Ukrainian troops are also deployed as part of the Ukrainian-Polish Battalion (UKRPOLBAT)
Polish-Ukrainian Peace Force Battalion
Polish–Ukrainian Peace Force Battalion or Ukrainian-Polish Peace Force Battalion is a Polish-Ukrainian peacekeeping battalion, formed in the late 1990s expressly "for participation in international peace-keeping and humanitarian operations under the auspices of international organizations".The...
in Kosovo. The total Ukrainian military deployment around the world as of 1 August 2009 is 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
Kut
Al-Kūt is a city in eastern Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris River, about 160 kilometres south east of Baghdad. the estimated population is about 374,000 people...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, when the Ukrainian peacekeeping contingent was attacked by militants of the Mahdi Army
Mahdi Army
The Mahdi Army, also known as the Mahdi Militia or Jaish al-Mahdi , was an Iraqi paramilitary force created by the Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in June 2003....
. The Ukrainians took fire, and over several hours held the objectives they had been assigned to secure.
Deployment outside Ukraine
Deployments as of September 2010:- ISAFInternational Security Assistance ForceThe International Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on 20 December 2001 by Resolution 1386 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement...
(PRT CHAGHCHARAN) - 13 Officers (3 medical officers): (MONUSCOUnited Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of CongoThe United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or MONUSCO , is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo which was established by the United Nations Security Council in resolutions 1279...
) - 12 Experts on Mission (NTM-I): - 10 officers: (KFOR) - 128 Soldiers: (UNMIKUnited Nations Interim Administration Mission in KosovoThe United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo or UNMIK is the interim civilian administration in Kosovo, under the authority of the United Nations. The mission was established on 10 June 1999 by Security Council Resolution 1244...
) - 1 Military Liaison Component Chief of Staff, 1 liaison officer: (UNMILUnited Nations Mission in LiberiaThe United Nations Mission in Liberia is a peace-keeping force established in September 2003 to monitor a ceasefire agreement in Liberia following the resignation of President Charles Taylor and the conclusion of the Second Liberian Civil War....
) - 277 Contingent Troops, 2 Experts on Mission: (TransnistriaTransnistriaTransnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...
) - 10 Military Observers: (UNMISUnited Nations Mission in SudanThe United Nations Mission in the Sudan was established by the UN Security Council under Resolution 1590 of 24 March 2005, in response to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the government of the Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement on January 9, 2005 in Nairobi,...
) - 9 Experts on Mission
Other militarized institutions of Ukraine
Ukraine's militarized institutions independent from Armed Forces of Ukraine include:- Internal TroopsInternal Troops of UkraineThe Internal Troops of Ukraine is an uniformed gendarmerie-like forces in Ukraine...
(Ministry of Internal Affairs): 33,300 (including 600 civilian workers) - Motorized military troops of Militsiya (Ministry of Internal Affairs)
- Border GuardState Border Guard Service of UkraineState Border Guard Service of Ukraine is the border guard of Ukraine. It is an independent law enforcement agency of special assignment, the head of which is subordinated to the President of Ukraine...
: 50,000 (including 8,000 civilian workers)- Ukrainian Sea GuardUkrainian Sea GuardUkrainian Sea Guard is the coast guard service of Ukraine, subordinated to its Border Guard Service.Sea Guard vessels bear the Морська охорона inscription on their boards....
— the coast guardCoast guardA coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...
within the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine
- Ukrainian Sea Guard
- Various military troops of the SBU (no generic name)
- Civil Defence Forces (Ministry of Emergency Situations): 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 fall under Armed Forces' command during war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
time.
Military Holidays
These are the professional military holidays of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.- February 23 - The DefenderDefender of the Fatherland DayDefender of the Fatherland Day is a holiday observed in Russia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Belarus and several other former republics of the Soviet Union. It is celebrated on February 23.-History:...
Day - July 8 - The Air Defence Day
- August 1 - The NavyUkrainian NavyThe Ukrainian Naval Forces is the navy of Ukraine and part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It was established in 1992. It consists of 5 branches: surface forces, submarine forces, Navy aviation, coast rocket-artillery and marines...
Day - August 2 - The Airmobile ForcesUkrainian Airmobile ForcesThe airmobile force is a highly mobile component of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.The airmobile forces consist of formations, units and elements of the Army and the Army aviation, trained for combined activities behind the enemy lines....
Day - August 8 - The Signal troops Day
- September 7 - The Day of Military IntelligenceChief directorate of intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of UkraineThe Chief directorate of intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine or HUR , is Ukraine's military intelligence service. It is a subdivision of the country's Defence Ministry and is under direct subordination to the Ministry of Defense, not the General Staff...
- September 9 - The Day of ArmourArmored Force (Ukraine)Armored Force along with Mechanized Infantry form the basis of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. They execute tasks of holding the occupied areas, lines and positions tasks of enemy’s impacts repelling, of penetrating enemy’s defense lines, of defeating the enemy forces, of capturing the important...
- September 14 - The mobilization serviceman Day
- October 29 - The Day of finance officers
- November 3 - The Rocket Forces and ArtilleryRocket Forces and Artillery (Ukraine)Rocket Forces and Artillery of the Ukrainian Ground Forces consist of units armed with tactical missiles, howitzers, cannons, mortars, jet-propelled and anti-tank artillery...
Day - November 3 - The Day of Engineers
- December 6 - The Armed Forces Day; festive fireworks and salutes take place in various cities in Ukraine
- December 12 - The Day of Ground ForcesUkrainian Ground ForcesThe Ukrainian Ground Forces are the land force component of the Military of Ukraine. They were formed from Soviet Army formations, units, and establishments, including three military districts , that were on Ukrainian soil when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990-92.Between the fall of the USSR and...
- December 23 - The Day of all level operational control structures servicemen.
Further reading
- Walter Parchomenko, Prospects for Genuine Reform in Ukraine's Security Forces, Armed Forces & Society, 2002, Vol.28, No.2
External links
- Official Website of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense: in English and in Ukrainian /
- Viysko Ukrayiny - Ministry of Defense' Army of Ukraine magazine
- Ukraine Defence White Book: 2005 2006 2007
- "Defense-Express" specialized news agency (a project of Ukrainian "Center for Army Conversion and Disarmament Studies" NGO; subscription needed for most of the material)
- Ukrainian Army military history magazine (including info on insignia and military museums) Information on Ukrainian army resources (both human and weapons).
- Military insignia of Ukraine from http://www.uniforminsignia.net