The Ukrainian Military puts on a show of military power in Kiev capital of Ukraine in a military parade. The Armed Forces of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Збройні сили України (ЗСУ) Zbroyni Syly Ukrayiny, (ZSU)) is the military of Ukraine. The country has observer status with the Non-Aligned Movement of nation states.[11] The Armed Forces of Ukraine are composed of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, the Ukrainian Navy, and the Ukrainian Air Force with the National Guard of Ukraine making up the main reserve component. Ukraine's naval forces maintain their own small Ukrainian Naval Infantry force as well as their own Ukrainian Naval Aviation force. The Ukrainian Sea Guard is the coast guard service of Ukraine, however it is part of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and is not subordinate to the Navy. A concept of the Territorial Defense Battalion of Ukraine formed as a result of the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine from local volunteers forming their own units which received authorization to operate as a militia against enemy forces. Initially these units received minimal funding from the state and mostly relied on donations. In November 2014 all battalions were integrated into Ukraine's regular forces as part of the National Guard of Ukraine. Ukrainian army is twenty-fifth of most powerful armies in the world.[12] Due to the ongoing hostilities with pro-Russian separatist, Ukraine has greatly increased the size of its military forces to the size of approximately 250,000 active duty personnel, not counting para military forces such as the border guards or the security service.[13] Ukraine's armed forces overtook France, which maintained a 229,000 man force, as the largest in Europe when excluding Russia.[14] Military units of other states participate in multinational military exercises with Ukrainian forces in Ukraine regularly.[15] Many of these exercises are held under the NATO co-operation program Partnership for Peace. Recent operations Ukraine has been playing an increasingly larger role in peacekeeping operations. Since 1992, over 30,000 soldiers have taken part in missions in the former Yugoslavia (IFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina, UNPROFOR and UNTAES in Croatia, KFor in Kosovo), the Middle East (Southern Lebanon, Kuwait, Iraq), and Africa (Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia).[60] Since 1997, Ukraine has been working closely with NATO and especially with Poland. A Ukrainian unit was deployed as part of the multinational force in Iraq under Polish command. Ukrainian troops are also deployed as part of the Ukrainian-Polish Battalion (UKRPOLBAT) in Kosovo. The total Ukrainian military deployment around the world as of 1 August 2009 was 540 servicemen participating in 8 peacekeeping missions.[60] 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.[61] Ukrainian troops as part of the former Soviet Armed Forces contingent participated in UNPROFOR in 1992, and in the summer of that year were involved into the civil war in Yugoslavia. On July 3, 1992 the Verkhovna Rada adopted a resolution committing the Ukrainian Armed Forces to UN peacekeeping missions. The Minister of Defense, Kostyantyn Morozov, ordered the creation of the 240th Separate Special Battalion (UKRBAT-1) which was based on the 93rd Guard Motor-Rifle Division (now the 93rd Mechanized Infantry Division). Soon after arrival in Sarajevo on July 31, 1992, the battalion's artillery complex ended up in the middle of a mutual mortar fight between the Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Muslims. One of the Serbian shells hit the Ukrainian position, seriously wounding seven soldiers, one of whom died after hospitalization in Germany. Since gaining independence Ukraine has deployed troops to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, as well as dedicating peacekeepers to UN missions to Africa. Ukrainian naval units also participated in anti piracy operations off the coast of Somalia prior to being recalled due to the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[62] On 19 January 2015 Ukraine's 18th separate helicopter detachment along with other MONUSCO troops carried out a successful operation eliminating 2 camps belonging to illegal armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[63] Other militarized institutions of Ukraine[edit] Ukraine's Armed Forces outside the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense consist of: Internal Troops → National Guard (Ministry of Internal Affairs): 33,300 (including 600 civilian workers)[71] Territorial defense battalion (Ukraine) - All volunteer units that formed in 2014 to resist pro Russian insurgents, as of November 2014 many units have been incorporated as regulars either into the National Guard (Ministry of Internal Affairs)

• published: 24 Jun 2015
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