Ukrainian armed forces

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flag Ukrainian Armed Forces
Збройні сили України
Sbrojni syly Ukrajiny
Emblem of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, svg
guide
Commander in Chief : President Volodymyr Zelenskyi
Defense Minister: Andrij Sahorodnyuk
Military Commander: Chief of Staff Ruslan Khomchak
Headquarters: Kiev , UkraineUkraineUkraine 
Military strength
Active soldiers: 250,000 (as of 2016)
Reservists: 85,000 (as of 2016)
Conscription: Yes; 12 months (Army and Air Force), 18 months (Navy)
Resilient population: 6,970,035 (ages 16-49) (as of 2015)
Eligibility for military service: 18th year of life
household
Military budget: 4.394 billion euros
Share of gross domestic product : 6%
history
Ukrainian soldiers during a deployment with a BTR-80 tank in the Iraq war in 2003

The Ukrainian Armed Forces ( Ukrainian Збройні сили України / Sbrojni syly Ukrajiny ) represent the military of Ukraine , they are divided into army , air force and navy with marines . In 2015 the manpower was 204,000 soldiers (plus 46,000 civil servants).

The armed forces do not include the 60,000 national guardsmen , formerly troops of the Ministry of the Interior, 53,000 men in the border guards (including maritime border guards and 8,000 civilian employees) and over 9,500 men in civil defense (e.g. disaster control ).

Lieutenant General Ruslan Khomchak is the Chief of the Armed Forces and Chief of Staff .

The military service for men statutory obligation, which commences with the completion of 18 years and lasts nine months. The abolition of compulsory military service and the transition to a professional army should take place in 2014. Due to the “deterioration in the security situation in the east and south of the country”, men between the ages of 18 and 25 have had to do their military service again since May 2014.

According to the Constitution of Ukraine (Article 106.17 / 19), the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is the President of Ukraine , who can also initiate the imposition of martial law and general mobilization in the event of tension or war .

history

1991 to 1999

Missile silo for ICBMs of the type RT-23 (NATO code name: SS-24) in Ukraine. In 1992 Ukraine was the third largest nuclear power in the world through the legacy of the Soviet Union.
A serious strategic swing wings - supersonic - bombers of the type Tupolev Tu-160 from Soviet production with Ukrainian national emblem (1997)

On October 22, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of Ukraine passed a law to form Ukrainian armed forces of around 420,000 soldiers and a national guard of 30,000 soldiers.

At the end of 1991 the Soviet military districts of Kiev and Odessa with 780,000 soldiers were transferred to Ukraine. The army units comprised units of the 1st Guards Army, 6th Guards Armored Army, 8th Armored Army, 13th Army and the 32nd Army Corps , four air fleets , an air defense army of the Soviet Army and the Black Sea fleet of the naval fleet . In terms of equipment, 7,000 armored vehicles, 6,500 tanks, 2,500 tactical missiles, 1,500 aircraft, 1,272 nuclear missiles and 350 ships were stationed on the territory of Ukraine. After the independence referendum , the Ukrainian parliament once again formally decided in 1992 to set up its own armed forces. The problem with taking over the former Soviet units and setting up their own units was the fact that there was no uniform command structure or a common general staff for them . There were also conflicts with Russia over the command of the Black Sea Fleet, which was temporarily jointly exercised. Finally the fleet was split up.

On January 2, 1992, President Leonid Kravchuk ordered all former Soviet troops stationed on the territory of Ukraine, including the Black Sea Fleet, to be placed under Ukrainian command. Only the strategic military units were excluded.

On March 26, 1992, a presidential decree ordered the return of all Ukrainian conscripts from Armenia , Azerbaijan and the Republic of Moldova by May 20, 1992. In May 1992, the tactical nuclear weapons stationed in Ukraine began to be transported to Russia.

On July 3, 1992, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (abbreviation RNBO) was founded, it is a state body of Ukraine. The council was initially created under the name of the National Security Council . Its duties are regulated in Article 107 of the Constitution of Ukraine . According to the Ukrainian constitution, the task of the RNBO is to advise the president of the country on questions relating to internal and external security policy. However, the Council also regularly deals with matters that lie outside traditional security and defense policy, such as domestic and energy policy.

After the independence of the Ukraine took over from the legacy of the Soviet nuclear forces 130 intercontinental ballistic missiles UR-100N (SS-19) with six nuclear warheads and 46 of the type RT-23 (NATO Code name: SS-24) with 10 warheads. It thus had the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world. The UR-100N (NATO code name: SS-19) were stationed in silos near Khmelnitsky and the RT-23 (SS-24) in silos near Pervomajsk . On July 2, 1993, a declaration of principle officially renounced nuclear weapons and that Ukraine should be free of nuclear weapons in the future. On July 15, 1993, dismantling of the UR-100N ICBMs stationed on the Ukrainian territory began. The missiles were brought to Russia for scrapping. The warheads initially remained in Ukraine until Russia's successor status with regard to the nuclear weapons of the former Soviet Union was internationally clarified. Ukraine demanded security guarantees for its country and financial support from the nuclear powers in order to renounce nuclear weapons .

The Budapest Memorandum was signed on December 5, 1994 in Budapest as part of the CSCE conference taking place there . In it, the USA , Great Britain and Russia undertook to respect the sovereignty and the existing borders of the countries (Article 1) as well as their political and economic independence in return for a waiver of nuclear weapons (Art. 1) in three separate declarations to Kazakhstan , Belarus and Ukraine Art. 2 f.) And, in the event of a nuclear attack on the countries, to initiate immediate measures by the UN Security Council (Art. 4). France issued its own statement regarding Ukraine: Statement by France on the Accession of Ukraine to the NPT .

These states came into possession of nuclear weapons in the course of the dissolution of the USSR . The Budapest Memorandum was a precondition for the signing and ratification of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty . By 1996, all nuclear weapons from the former USSR were brought to Russia, which, as the successor state of the USSR, has the right to possess nuclear weapons.

The treaty was ratified by all contracting parties and put into effect.

In the course of the Russian-Ukrainian gas dispute at the turn of 2005/06, the Ukrainian government under President Viktor Yushchenko considered using the signatories of the legally binding memorandum for aid to Ukraine. This request was rejected by the Russian side at the time.

“Many Ukrainian politicians are expressing their skepticism about the country's ability to ensure its own security. They claim that none of the main factors of national security - military strength, economic power, and a high degree of political and economic integration into the world economy - are present today. The deeper the crisis in Ukraine deepens, the more clearly it is defined as the greatest threat to the country's security - of direct foreign policy relevance. One of the most acute problems in Ukraine is its almost total dependence on energy imports from Russia. "

- Olga Alexandrova (* 1943), research assistant at the Federal Institute for Eastern and International Studies in Cologne in May 1994.

After joint maneuvers by US and Ukrainian troops in western Ukraine in 1995, NATO adopted a charter on a special partnership with Ukraine in July 1997 . Ukrainian contingents participated in NATO-led military interventions in the Yugoslav Wars , Iraq War and Afghanistan .

Since 2000

The National Guard was disbanded in 2000 and reorganized in March 2014.

On July 27, 2002, the Lviv air conference accident occurred in which a Sukhoi SU-27UB fighter aircraft of the Luftwaffe crashed during an aerobatic demonstration at the Sknyliw military airfield . 85 people were killed; more than 100 were injured.

During the Iraq war in 2003, Ukraine participated in the coalition of the willing and sent 1,650 soldiers with military equipment to Iraq. With its contingent, the country had the sixth largest troop strength in occupied Iraq. It was under the territorial jurisdiction of Poland. At the moment there are only 34 Ukrainian officers left in Iraq, as the entire contingent, as well as the troops of many other countries, have since been ordered back.

In 2005, the defense budget was around US $ 618 million and accounted for 1.4% of GDP in the national budget, one of the smallest military budgets in Europe based on 191,000 active soldiers and one million reservists.

In 2008 around 300 Ukrainian soldiers and 15 police officers were deployed abroad for the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNIMIL).

On June 14, 2009 - during a meeting of EU defense ministers - it was agreed to establish a Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian brigade .

As part of the Partnership for Peace took place (PfP) from July 25 to August 5, 2011 near Yavoriv the maneuvers Rapid Trident 2011 with a total of 1,400 soldiers, including 745 Ukrainian troops, 362 US soldiers , 99 soldiers from Moldova , 80 British soldiers , 47 from Serbia , 35 from Poland , 34 from Canada and 20 soldiers from Belarus .

1,400 soldiers from Ukraine and from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Georgia, Canada, Macedonia, Moldova, Norway, Austria, Poland, Romania, Serbia, took part in the PfP maneuver Rapid Trident 2012 from July 16 to 27, 2012 Sweden and the USA.

In Rapid Trident 2013 from 8 to 19 July 2013 1,300 soldiers participated. In addition to Ukrainian soldiers, soldiers from Armenia , Azerbaijan , Bulgaria , Denmark , Germany , Georgia , Great Britain, Canada, Moldova, Norway , Poland, Romania , Serbia, Sweden , Turkey and the USA took part.

Crimean crisis 2014

In the course of the Crimean crisis , the Ukrainian transitional government put the armed forces in full combat readiness; on March 2, 2014, she called up her reservists. This is not a general mobilization ; the interim government (interim president: Oleksandr Turchynow ) rather tried to take all necessary measures to maintain peace and order.

The events in the Crimea also revealed the desolate condition of many military installations and equipment, and widespread corruption became known. According to the Russian Defense Ministry , fewer than 2,000 of the more than 18,000 Ukrainian soldiers stationed in Crimea wanted to leave the peninsula .

On March 12, 2014, the Ukrainian Parliament decided to re-establish the Ukrainian National Guard , which is subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior. This special unit should "guarantee the security of the state, defend the borders and eliminate terror groups".

Reforms from 2014

The armed forces have been reinforced and restructured since 2014.

According to the 2015 White Book of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the command is now divided into 5 armed forces:

1) Army 2) Air Force 3) Navy 4) Air Mobile Forces and 5) Special Operations Forces

On August 24, 2016, the national holiday, a new uniform was presented. This will replace the now outdated uniforms. The old samples will now be issued until the existing stocks are exhausted.

army

Emblem of the Ukrainian Army
Soldiers of the 79th Airmobile Brigade during the KFOR deployment in Kosovo
Special forces of Ukraine in 2016

When building the army units, the structures of the Kiev military district were used to build up the army command.

The army is divided into the Western Operations Command (former Carpathian Military District), Southern Operations Command (former Odessa Military District) and Northern Territorial Directorate .

As major associations exist:

The equipment comprises as a battle tank T-84 , T-80 , T-72 , T-64 and T-55 , as armored chain BMP-3 , BMP-2 , BMP-1 , armored wheel BTR-94 , BTR-90 , BTR-80 , BTR-70 , BTR-60 , and as towing vehicles BTR-4 , BTR-3 , MT-LB . As command and patrol vehicle HMMWV , Dosor-B ; as artillery and air defense systems BM-21 "Grad", BM-27 "Uragan" , BM-30 "Smertsch", 2S1 "Gwosdika", 2S3 "Akazija", 2S5 "Giazint-S", 2S19 "Msta-S", D-20 , D-30 , S-300 , Koltschuga , BukM-1 , S-300W , 9K35 Strela-10 , 9K330 Tor , BukM-2 , Igla , 2K22 Tunguska , ZSU-23-4 , Totschka . Handguns AK-47 , AK-74 , RPK , PKM , Dragunow SWD , Tavor TAR-21 , as anti-tank and anti-tank weapons 9K111 Fagot , 9K113 bankruptcy , 9K115-2 Metis-M , 9K135 Kornet , RPG-22 and RPG-29 " Wampire ".

After the army reform 2014–2016, the structure is as follows:

  • Army command in Kiev
    • Operational Command (Corps) "West" in Rivne
      • 10th Mountain "Storm" Brigade
      • 14th Mechanized Brigade (formerly 51st MechBrig)
      • 24th Mechanized Brigade
      • 128. Guard Mountain Brigade
      • 44th Artillery Brigade
    • Operational command (corps) "North" in Chernihiv
      • 1st Armored Guard Brigade
      • 30th Guards Mechanized Brigade
      • 58th Motorized Rifle Brigade
      • 72nd Guards Mechanized Brigade
      • 26th Artillery Brigade
      • 1129th Missile Artillery Brigade
    • Operational Command (Corps) South in Odessa
      • 28th Guards Mechanized Brigade
      • 56th Motorized Rifle Brigade
      • 57th Motorized Rifle Brigade
      • 59th Motorized Rifle Brigade
      • 40th Artillery Brigade
      • 1039th Missile Artillery Brigade
    • Operational Guard Command East in Dnipro (formerly Dnipropetrovsk)
      • 17th Armored Guard Brigade
      • 53rd Mechanized Brigade
      • 54th Mechanized Brigade
      • 92nd Mechanized Brigade
      • 93rd Guards Mechanized Brigade
      • 55th Artillery Brigade
    • under the direct command of the Commander in Chief of the Army Forces
      • 15th "Guard" heavy rocket artillery regiment
      • 19th Missile Artillery Brigade
      • 27th heavy missile artillery brigade
      • 43rd heavy rocket artillery brigade
      • 11th Army Aviation Brigade
      • 12th Army Aviation Brigade
      • 16th Army Aviation Brigade
      • 18th Army Aviation Brigade
      • Presidential Regiment
      • Academies and cadre and stage troops such as the 101st security brigade in Kiev or the 169th training center "Desna" (comparable to a mechanized brigade)

Air Force

Emblem of the Ukrainian Air Force
Su-25 of the Ukrainian Air Force

structure

The air force (Ukrainian Повітряні Сили України, Powitrjani Syly Ukrajiny ) with the high command in Vinnytsia are divided into regiments and brigades:

marine

Emblem of the Ukrainian Navy

In 2016, the Ukrainian Navy had a total of around 6,500 soldiers, including 3,000 marines (36th Marine Infantry Brigade in Mykolaiv, etc.), as well as over 40 ships.

In 2016 a modernization plan was presented until 2020, which provides for the influx of almost 30, mostly smaller ships.

National Guard

Emblem of the Ukrainian National Guard

A national guard of Ukraine existed from 1991 to 2000. On March 12, 2014 the Ukrainian parliament decided to re-establish a national guard to secure borders and maintain internal security .

See also

Web links

Commons : Ukrainian Armed Forces  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Ukraine. Memorandum on Security Assurances  - Text of the Budapest Memorandum of December 5, 1994

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ White Book 2014. In: mil.gov.ua. Ukrainian War Ministry, accessed August 5, 2015 (English, white paper).
  2. ↑ [1]
  3. ↑ Ruslan Khomchak on interfax.com.ua of May 21, 2019; accessed on November 7, 2019 (Ukrainian)
  4. ↑ Ukraine says goodbye to conscription. (No longer available online.) Nrcu.gov.ua, August 27, 2013, archived from the original on March 6, 2014 ; Retrieved May 4, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nrcu.gov.ua
  5. ↑ Kiev reintroduces conscription. ORF , May 1, 2014, accessed on May 4, 2014 .
  6. ↑ Constitution of Ukraine ; last accessed on March 29, 2014 (Ukrainian)
  7. ↑ UNTERM Memorandum on Security Assurances in Connection with Ukraine's Accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; Budapest Memorandum . Archived from the original on March 6, 2014. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 5, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / unterm.un.org
  8. ^ NATO's relations with Ukraine
  9. ↑ Ukraine`s contribution to NATO peace support activities
  10. ↑ Information from English Wikipedia
  11. ↑ Участь Збройних Сил України у миротворчих операціях
  12. ^ Robert Rochowicz: List intencyjny w sprawie LITPOLUKRBRIG podpisany. Polska Zbrojna, November 16, 2009, accessed March 27, 2014 (Polish).
  13. ^ Troop movements and telephone diplomacy , spiegel.de, March 2, 2014
  14. ↑ Ukrainian Crimean Brigade: "We will not surrender" , spiegel.de March 4, 2014
  15. ↑ Russia controls Crimea militarily , Sächsische Zeitung on March 22, 2014
  16. ↑ Ukraine: Parliament decided to establish the National Guard , Der Standard on March 12, 2014
  17. ↑ Defender of the Fatherland wanted , FAZ from March 18, 2014
  18. ↑ https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2016/08/24/ukrainian-army-pushes-further-westernization-with-new-uniforms-a55091
  19. ↑ Ukrainian Military Pages: Сухопутні війська. In: www.ukrmilitary.com. Retrieved August 2, 2016 .
  20. ↑ Ukrainian Military Pages: Повітряні Сили. In: www.ukrmilitary.com. Retrieved August 2, 2016 .
  21. ↑ Ukraine's navy barely recovering from its near-death experience. Retrieved August 2, 2016 .
  22. ↑ Ukraine Eyes 30 New Vessels, Military Training Facilities. Retrieved August 2, 2016 .