Ukraine’s Armed Forces Day: History behind December 6 celebration

Contents

• Why Armed Forces of Ukraine's Day celebrated on December 6
• Armed Forces of Ukraine's structure
• How Armed Forces of Ukraine departed from Soviet army's principles

Why Armed Forces of Ukraine's Day celebrated on December 6

After the declaration of independence on August 24, 1991, there was a need to legislate the functions and responsibilities of the Ukrainian armed forces.

“On December 6, 1991, 2 laws were adopted - the Law of Ukraine on Defense and the Law of Ukraine on the Armed Forces. From that moment on, the history of the Armed Forces began. By a strange coincidence, this date coincided with the beginning of the First Winter Campaign of the Ukrainian People's Republic Army in 1919,” military historian Vasyl Pavlov, head of the Center for Military History, told RBC-Ukraine.

Before Russia's full-scale invasion, festive concerts were organized on December 6, but now they are not held for security reasons. Traditionally, on the day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, awards are presented to Ukrainian defenders, and flowers are laid at war memorials. Also, since 2009, the Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Prize for the best coverage of military topics in works of literature and art in several nominations has been awarded annually on the occasion.

“Sometimes you can hear that these are so-called soviet traditions, but I would advise people to see how official ceremonies of any state holiday related to military history are held abroad. These are traditional ceremonies that are held all over the world. We should honor our military not only on December 6 but every day. Also, we should not turn a professional holiday of people who face the deaths of their comrades in arms every day into another cult of death, it is irresponsible,” the expert adds.

December 6 is a common holiday for all branches of the military, and there are also separate holiday dates for each branch of the armed forces.

December 6 is a common holiday for all branches of the armed forces in Ukraine (photo: Getty Images)

Armed Forces of Ukraine's structure

The Armed Forces of Ukraine consist of a governing body, the General Staff, and 3 branches of the armed forces - land, air, and sea - as well as separate branches of the armed forces that are not part of the above-mentioned branches and auxiliary units:

• Land Forces
• Air Force
• Naval Forces
• Airborne Assault Forces
• Special Operations Forces
• Territorial Defense Forces
• Unmanned Systems Forces

In addition, there are other services, such as the command of logistics, armament, rear, support forces, other military units, as well as universities and institutions that do not belong to the Armed Forces.

As of 2024, the Armed Forces of Ukraine ranks 17th in the world in terms of personnel. Currently, our army has about 880,000 active servicemen and 1,000,000 in the reserve. Almost 68,000 women serve in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and about 5,000 are in active combat zones.

Currently, there are about 68,000 women in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (photo: Getty Images)

The official slogan of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is “For Ukraine, for its freedom,” and these words are embroidered on the battle flags of our army. They were taken from a poem by Mykola Voronyi, who wrote it in 1917. Later, the poem was set to music, and along with “Chervona Kalyna” it was the official fanfare of the President of Ukraine for a long time.

Historically, the formation of the national armed forces is associated with the Ukrainian People's Republic army (second decade of the twentieth century), as well as Ukrainian military formations within the Imperial and Royal Army of Austria-Hungary, namely the Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen. Interestingly, the first female officer in the world was a Ukrainian woman, Olena Stepaniv, who fought as part of the Sich Riflemen during the First World War.

Emblem of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (photo: Wikipedia)

How Armed Forces of Ukraine departed from Soviet army's principles

After the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine inherited one of the most powerful military forces in Europe, equipped with nuclear weapons and modern military equipment. At the same time, however, the question of forming its approaches to army organization arose.

Back in the early 1990s, the author of the Act of Independence of Ukraine Levko Lukianenko, during one of his meetings with the military, said that the old numbering, names, and symbols from the Soviet army should not be brought into the new Ukrainian army. At the time, the officers did not take this idea seriously. The real departure from Soviet principles began only after Russia's armed aggression in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

“The armed forces of any state are a reflection of society. Over the past 30 years, the Armed Forces have evolved. Many aspects of the Soviet army are already a thing of the past. Luckily for us, in 2014-15, a real transition from a so-called small Soviet army to a truly capable Armed Forces of Ukraine began,” Pavlov said.

After the start of the anti-terrorist operation, the Ukrainian army was increased to 250,000 people, and funding also increased. In 2015, the full names of military units, institutions, and bodies of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were removed from the full names of the USSR-era honorary names and state awards, and in 2016, the word Guards was removed from the honorary names of military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

It was then that the Armed Forces of Ukraine began the process of searching for honorary names based on the Ukrainian military historical tradition. As a result, the 24th Brigade was named after King Danylo, the 72nd Brigade was named the Black Cossacks, and the 93rd Brigade was named Kholodnyi Yar.

The Ukrainian army has gone through a real evolution in 30 years (photo: Getty Images)

Since 2014, instructors from NATO member states have been working in Ukraine and sharing their experiences with Ukrainian soldiers. Cooperation has especially intensified since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

“NATO is often used as an example for Ukrainian Armed Forces, but which country in the bloc has been deterring Russian aggression for three years? We must have our way of developing our army, and we are already on it. Now we can even see that NATO is already learning something from us,” Pavlov said.

About 880,000 soldiers are currently serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces (photo: Getty Images)

Sources: Vasyl Pavlov's exclusive commentary, Wikipedia, Army Inform, Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.