Syrskyi: Armed Forces of Ukraine Begin Transition To Corps-Based Command System

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the start of measures to transition the army to a corps-based structure of command and control of troops.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine published the statement on his official Facebook page.

“We take into account the challenges of the times and work to strengthen the army even in the current difficult conditions. The reform of the organizational structure of the Armed Forces is ongoing. We have started implementing measures to switch to a corps-based structure,” said Oleksandr Syrskyi.

The reform of the organizational structure of the Ukrainian army by merging the brigades of the Armed Forces into corps began in 2023 with the formation of the 9th and 10th Army Corps.

However, after the Zaporizhzhia offensive, the brigades subordinated to the newly created corps continued to fight separately in different parts of the front as part of operational and tactical groups.

Presumably, the reform announced by the Commander-in-Chief is aimed at completing the formation of the organizational core of the corps with the gradual transfer of combat brigades under their control.

Corps-based structure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Army corps emerged with the emergence of mass armies, when the spatial scope of combat operations increased and it became more difficult to manage military formations with numerous combatants and various weapons.

Their creation is also driven by the need to have formations capable of solving combat tasks in an independent operational direction.

Currently, it is publicly known that the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Army Corps exist within the Ukrainian Ground Forces. Another one has been created in the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces (Rapid Reaction Corps) and the Marine Corps of the Ukrainian Navy.

However, the number of formed corps may increase in the future, as the Ukrainian Defense Forces currently have more than a hundred brigades for various purposes.

Each corps consists of 4-5 mechanized (assault, infantry) brigades, a reconnaissance regiment or battalion, and other separate combat and logistics units. The corps is commanded by a major general, chief of staff and deputy chief of staff, and brigadier generals.

For more information on army reform and the problem of choosing between a corps and a division structure, listen to the Militarnyi Podcast: