The army’s transition to a new management structure

On June 21, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, held a meeting with Ukrainian and foreign journalists to share his vision of the situation at the front and in the rear, and to outline the main challenges facing the country and its Defense Forces.

As is known, last year the reorganization of the Armed Forces of Ukraine began, with the creation of army corps, which is intended to increase the effectiveness of combat operations and reduce the burden on military command bodies. The goal is to reduce the number of units directly subordinate to a specific command body (an army corps). Unlike operational troop groupings (OTUs), corps are permanent military command bodies that will operate on an ongoing basis. According to Syrskyi, the level of the Operational Strategic Group (OSUV) remains the same, while all OTUs will gradually be eliminated.

“The first wave of army corps headquarters with their support units have already completed combat coordination and have taken over their designated sectors of responsibility and assigned troop contingents. Next will be the subsequent waves, and in this way all corps will take up their sectors. Thus, we will complete the transition to a corps-based system and the corresponding reorganization of our defense.

The main goal is to use all available forces and assets more effectively, to optimize the distribution of our artillery, and to increase the number of unmanned systems units. I hope that this reorganization will allow us, first, to save personnel — that is, to use our servicemen who directly perform combat tasks more rationally. And also to create more capable reserves, so that we have the ability to carry out active counter-offensive and offensive operations,” said the Commander-in-Chief.

General Syrskyi noted that the corps commanders have selected personnel for their headquarters and were given the right to choose the deputies they wanted.

“The vast majority of corps commanders are former brigade commanders who distinguished themselves on the battlefield. Their deputies and chiefs of staff are the same. There has been a rejuvenation of the operational command staff,” Syrskyi emphasized. “We hope that this reorganization will bring new opportunities in terms of more effective deployment of units, better use of combat experience, stronger control over brigades, reduced losses on our side, and increased destruction of enemy forces.”