Special Report: Order of Battle of the Ukrainian Armed Forces

Richard D. Hooker, Jr., Hlib Parfonov

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Order of Battle of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by Distinguished Jamestown Senior Fellow Richard D. Hooker Jr. and Jamestown analyst Hlib Parfonov provides a detailed organizational and structural overview of Ukraine’s military forces amid the ongoing war with Russia. Drawing on Ukrainian government, military, and academic sources, as well as authoritative open-source Ukrainian media outlets, the report outlines the composition and capabilities of Ukraine’s military branches, including the Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Air Assault Forces, and the newly established Unmanned Systems Forces. It catalogs over 131 maneuver brigades, their command structures, operational groupings, and equipment inventories, ranging from Western-supplied tanks and artillery to Ukrainian-made drone units and legacy Soviet platforms. This comprehensive guide serves as both an analytical and a reference resource for understanding Ukraine’s evolving military posture.

Ukraine has been at war with Russia since the occupation of Crimea and Russian incursions in the Donbas in 2014, and on a large scale since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. From 2014 to 2022, Ukraine’s armed forces had grown to be the largest and strongest in Europe, with a total end strength of 2.2 million (900,000 active personnel and 1.3 million reservists). Currently, the Ukrainian forces comprise 131 maneuver brigades of various types, supported by 15 artillery brigades, four army aviation brigades, 14 antiaircraft brigades or regiments, 105 fixed-wing combat aircraft, 109 rotary-wing combat aircraft, and eight maritime patrol craft. All combat formations rely heavily on electronic warfare and the use of unmanned platforms. This listing omits the numerous independent battalions and detachments that comprise the Ukrainian order of battle, as well as combat support and service support formations. Some units shown are forming or have sustained battle losses and may not be at full strength.