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Ukrainian Air Assault Forces
Ukrainian Air Assault Forces
Десантно-штурмові війська України
	Emblem of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces
Founded	1992; 32 years ago
Country	Ukraine
Type	Rapid reaction force
Role	Airborne forces; Air assault infantry; Peacekeeping
Size	35,000 (2024)
Part of	Armed Forces of Ukraine
Headquarters	Zhytomyr
Patron	Saint Michael
Motto(s)	Завжди перші!; (Always first!)
Color of beret	Maroon
Anniversaries	Air Assault Forces Day; (21 November)
Engagements	Kosovo Force (KFOR); Iraq War; Russo-Ukraine War Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation; War in Donbas; Russian invasion of Ukraine; ;
Commanders
Current; commander	Brigadier General Ihor Skybiuk
Insignia
Flag
Garrison color
Shoulder sleeve insignia
Beret insignia

The Ukrainian Air Assault Forces (Ukrainian: Десантно-штурмові війська України, romanized: Desantno-shturmovi viiska Ukrainy, pronounced [deˌsɑntno ʃtʊrmoˈvʲi ʋʲii̯ˈsʲka ʊkrɐˈjine], abbreviated as DShV^[a] or AAFU), known until 2017 as the Ukrainian Airmobile Forces^[b]^[6] are the airborne forces of Ukraine. After the Dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, several Ukraine-based units from the Soviet Airborne Forces were absorbed into the newly created Ukrainian Ground Forces, where they remained until 2016, when they separated to become one of five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Air Assault Forces are in constant combat readiness. They are the high-mobility branch of the military, responsible for air assaults and military parachuting operations. Before the Russo-Ukrainian War they were also the main forces sent by Ukraine to peacekeeping missions around the world.^[7] They are considered the elite of Ukraine's armed forces.^[8]

History

The Ukrainian Airmobile Forces were created in 1992 as part of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, from units of the Soviet Airborne Forces (VDV) stationed on Ukrainian territory after the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 25 December 1991.^[9] Part of the Soviet 98th Guards Airborne Division became the basis for the Ukrainian 1st Airmobile Division, which became known as the most capable division in the Ukrainian ground forces during the 1990s.^[10]

In the 15 years after their creation, Ukrainian paratroopers have served in peacekeeping missions to the Balkans, in Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ethiopia, Georgia and DR Congo. In 2007, the 13th Separate Airmobile Battalion served as part of Polish–Ukrainian Peace Force Battalion, a peacekeeping unit with Kosovo Force.^[7]

War in Donbas and beyond

In August 2014 the 95th Air Assault Brigade conducted a raid behind the separatist lines. The 95th Brigade, which had been reinforced with armor assets and attachments, launched a surprise attack on separatist lines, broke through into their rear areas, fought for 450 kilometers, and destroyed or captured numerous Russian tanks and artillery pieces before returning to Ukrainian lines and established a corridor in which the Ukrainian army units and civilians trapped at the border could retreat. It was one of the longest armored raids in military history.^[11]

In 2016, the Ukrainian Airmobile Forces became an independent branch of the Armed Forces. Previously, they were part of Ground Forces.^[12]

On 21 November 2017 (Ukraine's Paratroopers' Day) President Petro Poroshenko stated that 469 Ukrainian paratroopers had been killed in the (ongoing) Russo-Ukrainian War.^[13] On 21 November 2018 he adjusted this to 487 killed.^[14]

2017 reforms

Air Assault Forces Day was celebrated on 2 August in Ukraine, as it was in the Soviet Union, until 2017, when it changed to 21 November 2017.^[15]^[3] President Poroshenko said "It is logical to celebrate your professional holiday on November 21. The usual August 2 is the date of the first jump of paratroopers in the Moscow Military District. How is it about us? Moscow is not Kyiv. Ukraine is not Russia."^[16] He added that "The start of the new Paratroop Day is part of the Ukrainianization of the historical and political calendar – the replacement of the Soviet-Russian imposed upon us."^[17]

On 21 November 2017 the Air Assault Forces received its new insignia – the dome of a parachute "as a symbol of airborne units around the world" and the wings of Archangel Michael and "the flaming sword with which he hits the enemies".^[13] The color of the Ukrainian paratroopers was changed to maroon,^[13] and from 2017 the UkrAAF wear the maroon berets common to many Western airborne units.

On 23 May 2018, President Poroshenko signed legislation that renamed the Airmobile Forces as the Air Assault Forces.^[18]

Russian invasion

Beginning Thursday, 24 February 2022, the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine,^[19] the UkrAAF have been participants of some of the land combat actions of the current conflict, fighting alongside their brethen from the Ground Forces, Territorial Defense and the National Guard.

As of February 20, 2024, the air assault forces suffered a total of 3,104 soldiers killed in action, according to publicly available information.^[20]

Organization

In 2014, the staffing of an airmobile brigade was brought up to 1,200 servicemen. Each brigade was given at least one artillery battalion from the 25th and 55th artillery brigades and a tank battalion. Currently, the total staffing of the brigades ranges from 1,000 to 2,200 personnel, depending on the deployment. Most of the brigades operate in 1-2 battalion tactical groups, in each of which, in addition to infantry battalions, there are up to two field artillery battalions and at least one tank company equipped with BTRs and BMP IFVs.

Organization 2001

In 2001 the Airmobile Force consisted of:^[21]

Unit	Base #	Location	Status
Headquarters 1st Airmobile Division	А0220	Bolhrad	inactive since 2003
25th Airborne Brigade	А1126	Hvardiiske (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast)
45th Airmobile Brigade	А1533	Bolhrad
27th Mechanized Brigade	А0664	Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi
91st Artillery Regiment	А0242	Veselyi Kut
95th Airmobile Brigade	А0281	Zhytomyr
79th Airmobile Regiment	А0224	Mykolaiv
80th Airmobile Regiment	А0284	Lviv


	1st Airmobile Division
	Separate Brigade
	Separate Regiments

Current Structure

Air Assault Forces brigades 2023

Airborne

Air Assault

Airmobile

Jaeger

Composition of Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine^[22]
	Air Assault Forces General Command	A3771	Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast	Commander Maj. Gen. Maxim Myrhorodskyi
	135th Headquarters Battalion^[23]	A3771	Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast	Commander Lt. Col. Vadym Kinzerskyi
	VII Air Assault Corps
	87th Management Battalion^[24]
	25th Airborne Brigade	A1126	Hvardiiske, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast	Commander Colonel Yuriy Sodol
	46th Airmobile Brigade	A4350	Poltava, Poltava Oblast	Commander Col. Valeriy Skred
	71st Jaeger Brigade	A4030	Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast
	77th Airmobile Brigade	A4355	Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
	78th Assault Regiment "Herts"	A7788		Commander Col. Vyacheslav Ponamarenko
	79th Air Assault Brigade 1st Separate Air Assault Company "Belarus" 3rd Separate Assault Battalion "Phoenix"	A0224 n/a n/a	Mykolaiv, Mykolaiv Oblast n/a n/a	Commander Col. Oleksandr Lutsenko Commander "Phoenix" Commander Maj. Roman Kasyanchuk
	80th Air Assault Brigade	A0284	Lviv, Lviv Oblast	Commander Col. Emil Ishkulov
	81st Airmobile Brigade 5th Battalion Tactical Group 90th Separate Airmobile Battalion 122nd Separate Airmobile Battalion	A2120 A1493 A0641 A4165	Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast Terentiivka, Poltava Oblast Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast Druzhkivka, Donetsk Oblast	Col. Oleksandr Lykhman Commander Lt. Col Oleg Chuyko Commander Maj. Vladyslav Tsiba Commander Maj. Oleksandr Lunyov
	82nd Air Assault Brigade	A2582	Chernivtsi, Chernivtsi Oblast	Commander Lt. Col. Pavlo Rozlach
	95th Air Assault Brigade 13th Airmobile Battalion	A0281 A1910	Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast	Commander Col. Oleg Apostol Commander Maj. Oleksandr Porhun
	132nd Reconnaissance Battalion	А2298	Ozerne, Zhytomyr Oblast	Commander Maj. Yuriy Hupalyuk
	148th Separate Artillery Brigade	A3316	Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast	Commander Col. Maksym Lanovy
	421st Separate Battalion of Unmanned Systems [uk]			in formation
Educational parts^[22]
	199th Training and Education Center 37th Combined Military Training Ground Airborne Training School (as part of 37th)	A2900 A0339	Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast Perlyavka, Zhytomyr Oblast
Support Units^[22]
	Commander's Office of Amphibious Support^[25]
	33rd Engineering Battalion	A4733
	71st Center for Moral and Psychological Support			Commander Lt. Col. Serhii Shevchuk
	102nd Separate Storage Warehouse for Airborne Equipment	А3749	Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast
	124th Topographic Unit^[22]	A1977	Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast
	170th Separate Logistic Battalion	A4633	Korostyshiv, Zhytomyr Oblast
	232nd Unified Support Base	A0310	Vinnytsia, Vinnytsia Oblast
	25th Garrison of Airborne Assault Troops Officers
	12th Center for the Protection of State Secrets	A4223
	347th Information and Telecommunications Node^[22]	A0876	Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast

Commanders

Name	Rank	Period of command
Vitaly Raevsky	Major general	1992–1998
Ivan Yakubets [uk]	Colonel	1998–2005
Serhiy Lysovyi [uk]	Colonel	2005–2012
Oleksandr Shvets	Colonel	2012–2015
Mykhailo Zabrodskyi	Lieutenant general	March 2015^[26]^[27] – August 2019^[28]
Yevhen Moisiuk	Major general	August 2019^[28] – 9 August 2021
Maksym Myrhorodskyy [uk]	Major general	9 August 2021^[29] – 11 February 2024
Ihor Skybiuk	Brigadier general	11 February 2024^[5] – present

Armament

Personal firearms

PM, semi-automatic pistol (9×18mm)
Fort-14 [ru; uk]
AKS-74,^[30] para assault rifle (AK-74 with folding skeleton buttstock) (5.45×39mm)
AKS-74U, short-barreled para assault rifle carbine with folding skeleton buttstock(5.45×39mm)
AKMS, para assault rifle with a downward-folding metal stock similar to that of the German MP40 (7.62×39mm)
AK-TK [ru] – AK-74 modernization
Fort-221 – TAR-21 licensed copy
RPKS-74, the light weight para machinegun (5.45×39mm)
PKM, general purpose machine gun (7.62×54mmR)
Dragunov SVDS sniper rifle (7.62×54mmR)
GP-25 and GP-30, the under-barrel 40 mm grenade launchers for fragmentation and gas grenades which are attached to AKS-74 of some paratroopers to increase firepower for combating enemy foot troops
AGS-17 "Plamya" (Flame),^[31] automatic grenade launcher – may be replaced in the future by a much lighter UAG-40.^[32]

Armored vehicles

Artillery

M777 howitzer
2S9 "Nona-S" configuration of 2S9 Nona, 120 mm self-propelled mortar^[33]
2S23 Nona-SVK
2S1 Gvozdika
2S3 Akatsiya
BM-21 Grad
ZU-23-2,^[33] an aged but effective and powerful design of a double barrel 23 mm anti-aircraft gun, commonly used against infantry and even APCs and IFVs, it is either mounted on any amphibious hulls, usually based on PT-76 light tank, or can be towed by jeep or truck as it has wheels.

Vehicles

Gallery

A KRAZ Spartan
A MTLB
Soldiers prepare for movement during Saber Junction-2018.
Soldiers during Saber Junction-2018
VDV troops in a military parade in 2014, when they still wore sky-blue berets and telnyashka shirts like their Russian counterparts
Flag of the Airmobile forces until 2017
Shoulder sleeve insignia until 2017
Former emblem

Notes

^ Ukrainian: ДШВ
^ Ukrainian: Високомобільні десантні війська України, romanized: Vysokomobilni desantni viiska Ukrainy, lit. 'High-mobility airborne forces of Ukraine', abbreviated as VDV (Ukrainian: ВДВ)

References

^ The Military Balance 2022. International Institute for Strategic Studies. February 2022. ISBN 978-1-00-062003-0.
^ (in Ukrainian) Instead of airborne troops in Ukraine there will be Airborne Assault Troops, BBC Ukrainian (21 November 2017)
^ ^a ^b (in Ukrainian) Day of paratroopers decided to move Archived 2017-11-10 at the Wayback Machine, Ukrayinska Pravda (8 November 2017)
^ (in Ukrainian) Since the beginning of the conflict in the Donbas killed 415 Marines Archived 2016-08-07 at the Wayback Machine, Ukrayinska Pravda (2 August 2016)
^ ^a ^b "Zelensky appoints 4 new high-level military commanders". The Kyiv Independent. 11 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
^ "Основні показники реформування Міністерства оборони та Збройних Сил у 2016 році". 2020-09-21. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
^ ^a ^b "Ukrainian paratroopers celebrate 15th anniversary" (PDF). KFOR Chronicle. 31 August 2007. p. 23. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
^ "Combat training of Ukrainian troopers: They aren't called Ukrainian Armed Forces' elite for nothing, - Poroshenko on Ukrainian commandoes. PHOTOS (16.08.18 16:54) « Incidents | Censor.NET". 16 August 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-01-04. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
^ Kobasa, Askold I. (December 1995). A Strategic-Military Analysis of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Naval Postgraduate School. p. 53. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
^ Kobasa, Askold I. (December 1995). A Strategic-Military Analysis of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Naval Postgraduate School. p. 112. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
^ "21st Century Maneuver | Marine Corps Association". www.mca-marines.org. Archived from the original on 2017-08-25. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
^ "Основні показники реформування Міністерства оборони та Збройних Сил у 2016 році". www.ukrmilitary.com. 4 August 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-09-07. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Poroshenko: 469 Ukrainian paratroopers killed in Donbas amid war". www.unian.info. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
^ "Some 487 Ukrainian paratroopers killed in Donbas hostilities". Interfax-Ukraine. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
^ "Ukraine marks 25th Airmobile Forces anniversary". www.unian.info. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
^ President: The Day of Airborne Forces will be celebrated on November 21 Archived 2017-11-23 at the Wayback Machine, Presidential Administration of Ukraine (21 November 2017)
^ (in Ukrainian) President: Day of Airborne Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be celebrated on November 21 Archived 2017-11-21 at the Wayback Machine, Presidential Administration of Ukraine (21 November 2017)
^ Poroshenko enacts law on Ukraine's Air Assault Forces. UNIAN. Published 23 May 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
^ "Conflict in Ukraine". Global Conflict Tracker. Council on Foreign Relations. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
^ "UA Losses".
^ "№ 477-р від 3 грудня 2001 року "Про шефство Дніпропетров". Archived from the original on October 3, 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Високомобільні десантні війська". Ukrainian Military Pages. Archived from the original on 2 September 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
^ "Структура ВДВ". Archived from the original on 25 August 2016.
^ "87-мий окремий батальйон".
^ "У владі неба. В Десантно-штурмових військах сформований новий підрозділ". Archived from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
^ "President conferred the rank of Brigadier General to commander of the Airborne Forces Mykhailo Zabrodskyi". Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. 2 August 2015. Archived from the original on 3 August 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
^ "Mykhailo Zabrodskyi appointed as new chief of ATO forces". www.unian.info. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
^ ^a ^b Ukraine's Major General Moisiuk appointed Commander of Airborne Assault Troops, UNIAN (21 August 2019)
^ "Maksym Myrhorodskyy appointed commander of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces". Militarnyy. 9 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
^ S stands for skladnoy (Russian: складной), means folding. Issued only for parachute-landing purposes
^ "MoD News Article". Archived from the original on June 7, 2011.
^ "Automatic grenade launcher UAG-40". www.lk.com.ua. Public Company Leninska Kuznya Plant. Archived from the original on 2016-06-02. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
^ ^a ^b "MoD News Article". Archived from the original on June 7, 2011.

External links

Official site Archived 2018-02-23 at the Wayback Machine
Ministry of Defence
Military Forum Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine

[6] Ukrainian: ДШВ

[7] Ukrainian: Високомобільні десантні війська України, romanized: Vysokomobilni desantni viiska Ukrainy, lit. 'High-mobility airborne forces of Ukraine', abbreviated as VDV (Ukrainian: ВДВ)

[The_Military_Balance2022-1] The Military Balance 2022. International Institute for Strategic Studies. February 2022. ISBN 978-1-00-062003-0.

[42063614SaintMichael-2] (in Ukrainian) Instead of airborne troops in Ukraine there will be Airborne Assault Troops, BBC Ukrainian (21 November 2017)

[UP7161138-3] (in Ukrainian) Day of paratroopers decided to move Archived 2017-11-10 at the Wayback Machine, Ukrayinska Pravda (8 November 2017)

[4] (in Ukrainian) Since the beginning of the conflict in the Donbas killed 415 Marines Archived 2016-08-07 at the Wayback Machine, Ukrayinska Pravda (2 August 2016)

[kyiv-5] "Zelensky appoints 4 new high-level military commanders". The Kyiv Independent. 11 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.

[8] "Основні показники реформування Міністерства оборони та Збройних Сил у 2016 році". 2020-09-21. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 2022-04-27.

[:1-9] "Ukrainian paratroopers celebrate 15th anniversary" (PDF). KFOR Chronicle. 31 August 2007. p. 23. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2016.

[10] "Combat training of Ukrainian troopers: They aren't called Ukrainian Armed Forces' elite for nothing, - Poroshenko on Ukrainian commandoes. PHOTOS (16.08.18 16:54) « Incidents | Censor.NET". 16 August 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-01-04. Retrieved 2019-01-03.

[strategic15-11] Kobasa, Askold I. (December 1995). A Strategic-Military Analysis of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Naval Postgraduate School. p. 53. Retrieved 25 January 2024.

[12] Kobasa, Askold I. (December 1995). A Strategic-Military Analysis of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Naval Postgraduate School. p. 112. Retrieved 25 January 2024.

[13] "21st Century Maneuver | Marine Corps Association". www.mca-marines.org. Archived from the original on 2017-08-25. Retrieved 2017-08-24.

[14] "Основні показники реформування Міністерства оборони та Збройних Сил у 2016 році". www.ukrmilitary.com. 4 August 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-09-07. Retrieved 2017-11-27.

[UNIAN2254451-15] "Poroshenko: 469 Ukrainian paratroopers killed in Donbas amid war". www.unian.info. Retrieved 2022-10-19.

[16] "Some 487 Ukrainian paratroopers killed in Donbas hostilities". Interfax-Ukraine. Retrieved 2022-10-19.

[17] "Ukraine marks 25th Airmobile Forces anniversary". www.unian.info. Retrieved 2022-10-19.

[18] President: The Day of Airborne Forces will be celebrated on November 21 Archived 2017-11-23 at the Wayback Machine, Presidential Administration of Ukraine (21 November 2017)

[19] (in Ukrainian) President: Day of Airborne Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be celebrated on November 21 Archived 2017-11-21 at the Wayback Machine, Presidential Administration of Ukraine (21 November 2017)

[20] Poroshenko enacts law on Ukraine's Air Assault Forces. UNIAN. Published 23 May 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2024.

[21] "Conflict in Ukraine". Global Conflict Tracker. Council on Foreign Relations. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.

[22] "UA Losses".

[23] "№ 477-р від 3 грудня 2001 року "Про шефство Дніпропетров". Archived from the original on October 3, 2011.

[struct-24] "Високомобільні десантні війська". Ukrainian Military Pages. Archived from the original on 2 September 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2024.

[назвдв-25] "Структура ВДВ". Archived from the original on 25 August 2016.

[ВАКАНСІЯ_ГРАНАТОМЕТНИК-26] "87-мий окремий батальйон".

[:0-27] "У владі неба. В Десантно-штурмових військах сформований новий підрозділ". Archived from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2018.

[28] "President conferred the rank of Brigadier General to commander of the Airborne Forces Mykhailo Zabrodskyi". Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. 2 August 2015. Archived from the original on 3 August 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.

[29] "Mykhailo Zabrodskyi appointed as new chief of ATO forces". www.unian.info. Retrieved 2022-10-19.

[10658331Moisiuk-30] Ukraine's Major General Moisiuk appointed Commander of Airborne Assault Troops, UNIAN (21 August 2019)

[auto-31] "Maksym Myrhorodskyy appointed commander of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces". Militarnyy. 9 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2022.

[32] S stands for skladnoy (Russian: складной), means folding. Issued only for parachute-landing purposes

[BTR-33] "MoD News Article". Archived from the original on June 7, 2011.

[34] "Automatic grenade launcher UAG-40". www.lk.com.ua. Public Company Leninska Kuznya Plant. Archived from the original on 2016-06-02. Retrieved 2016-06-06.

[BMD-35] "MoD News Article". Archived from the original on June 7, 2011.

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Ukrainian Air Assault Forces