Territorial Defense Forces TrO - Order of Battle

The territory of the country is divided into defense zones according to top-level administrative units (oblasts, cities of special status, autonomous republic), which in turn are subordinated to the relevant operational command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to which these administrative units belong. In the event of the creation or emergence of conditions for destabilization of the situation, territorials must deploy a system of territorial defense in a matter of hours in order to take control of all communications and ensure the existence of a constitutional order in this area. This is the top priority. Local authorities have a great responsibility to ensure defense.

The deployment of the TrO system will take place in three stages. The TrO Forces are a separate type of force within the Armed Forces. In the first stage, brigades and battalions of the Troop Forces will be deployed in peacetime. In each battalion a skeleton of servicemen of the Armed Forces is formed. Their task is to command, train and reconcile civilians who will sign a contract for service in the TrO reserve and protect the territory where they live. At the expense of these TrO reservists, each battalion will number up to 600 people. The formation of the Troop reserve in the states of the special period is the second stage after the battalions and brigades will create an organizational and managerial core of servicemen and provide appropriate conditions. Weapons will be assigned to those who sign a contract and serve in the TrO reserve. It will be issued during the training.

The deployment of brigades and battalions of the TrO of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the creation of voluntary formations of territorial communities, the protection of civilians and critical infrastructure - these and many other related issues require serious attention of local leaders. In the event of a large-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other components of the security and defense sector at great cost will, in fact, "win time" for the deployment of troop and resistance movements. The efficiency of all processes of deployment, understanding and working out the place and role of each subject of national resistance, ensuring the priority needs of the population in case of power outages, disappearance of the Internet and other crises will determine force viability.

Structure of the Troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine:

• Command of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
• regional bodies of military management of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
• brigades of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
• battalions from the brigades of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to the Law of Ukraine "On the Fundamentals of National Resistance", military units of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are formed:

• brigades - in each zone of territorial defense and in addition in each city with a population exceeding 900 thousand inhabitants;
• battalions - in each district of territorial defense and additionally in each administrative center of the region;
• additional military units (subdivisions) - in the territories of territorial defense, the population of which exceeds 2400000 inhabitants.

The advantage of such a structure is the presence of units everywhere. All oblast and rayon centers have their own subdivisions. These are local people who can get to the collection points fairly quickly. These are motivated people who came to the defense voluntarily.

Members of a public organization, etc., can form a separate platoon, company, etc. This was the practice during the mobilization of 2014-2015. If the organization has officers, sergeants and soldiers, they can fill the positions of the entire unit, which corresponds to their number.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Valery Zaluzhny, approved the sleeve emblems for certain brigades of the territorial defense of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This was announced on 16 September 2021. All emblems are designed in a single style, in colors typical of mechanized troops. However, there is a feature that will distinguish the units of territorial defense from other parts, namely: a narrowed toothed head, which symbolizes the protective wall. Also, in order to form the military traditions of the Ukrainian army in the symbolism of territorial defense units, the main emphasis is not on administrative units artificially formed during the Soviet occupation (times), but on the historical regions of Ukraine. Thus, most emblems depict elements of historical or modern symbols of the regions in which the parts are located.

The basis of Ukraine's territorial defense is made up of 25 Troop brigades in each of the oblasts and the city of Kyiv. In each region, 25 brigades will be formed, uniting more than 150 battalions (one per district) - each battalion will number up to 600 people. The permanent number of territorial defense forces in peacetime will be 10,000 servicemen. During the special period, the units will have 130,000 people who will form a reserve. Financing and logistical support of the national resistance is planned to be carried out at the expense and within the funds of the State Budget of Ukraine, local budgets, as well as from other sources not prohibited by the legislation of Ukraine.

"As of January 17, 86% of the locations of TPO units throughout Ukraine have been identified. In the border regions, Troop brigades have gained 70% of their peacetime capacity since the beginning of January. The pace of deployment of the military component of the Troops is accelerating," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The basis of the brigade is a permanent staff of military personnel. The rest are reservists who have signed a contract with the brigade and conscripts assigned to the brigade in the territorial centers of recruitment and social support (former military commissariats). The brigade has reservist positions of all categories: officers, sergeants, soldiers. There is a place in territorial defense for everyone who wants to be ready to defend themselves, their home, family, city and country. Due to the staffing of territorial defense brigades with reservists and their advance training, the readiness period can be reduced to 24 hours. This is exactly the case in Israel, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, etc.

The Law “On Amendments to Article 1 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Number of the Armed Forces of Ukraine “Increasing the Number of the Armed Forces of Ukraine" was adopted on July 16, 2021. The draft law was registered at #5558. The law increased the number of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by 11,000 servicemen, ie the total number of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be 261,000 people, including 215,000 servicemen.