Ukrainian Military Reform: Azov, 3rd Assault Brigades to Form Core of New Corps
5 February, 2025 Ukrainian military. Source: 3rd Assault Brigade Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky plans to form new corps by using the most effective combat brigades as their basis.
Kyiv Post newspaper's sources have provided details of the new reform of the Ukrainian Defense Forces. On Monday, it became known that frontline formations will be transformed into corps-level command groups, each based on the best-performing brigades. The restructuring orders have already been issued, and the headquarters of the six corps will assume direct control of the frontline sectors.
Each corps will consist of five combat brigades totaling 12-15,000 personnel and about 700-900 pieces of heavy equipment such as tanks, armored personnel carriers, and artillery. Every corps will have specific responsibilities and will include artillery, air defense, intelligence, electronic warfare, and support units. According to the charter, the Armed Forces of Ukraine include the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Army Corps, the 7th Air Assault Corps and the 30th Marine Corps.
Prior to the reform, announced by Syrsky, the primary role of their headquarters was administration and support. According to Syrsky, each of the new corps will be combat-ready. The combined arms units, created on the basis of existing brigades with soldiers and officers with more than three years of service, will become separate tactical formations.
This decision seems to reverse the previous policy of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which focused on promoting professional officers with extensive service records, rather than commanders from lesser-known units, or even civilians who gained experience as combat leaders.
Reform
On Monday, an Azov officer confirmed to the Kyiv Post that the unit would serve as the basis for the new corps' command.
Freeze frame from Azov's recruitment video
He said it is planned to reinforce it with powerful artillery, reconnaissance and radio units, but it will likely take months before Azov becomes a full-fledged corps. The commander of the 3rd Assault Brigade, Andrii Biletsky, confirmed to the Kyiv Post that it would also form the basis of the new corps. The 13th Brigade of the National Guard "Khartiia", which started the war as an armed formation of civilian volunteers from Kharkiv, will also become the basis of the new corps.
A Ukrainian Navy Marine officer confirmed to the Kyiv Post that the new 30th Corps will be formed by merging four existing Marine brigades - the 35th, 36th, 37th, and 38th - and reinforcing them with support units and an expanded headquarters.
Ukrainian Marines. June 2024. Ukraine.
Photo: Marine Corps of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Reportedly, the 7th Rapid Reaction Corps of the Airborne Troops will be administratively divided into two combat-ready corps. Currently, the honorary name "airborne assault" is given to selected regular army units with higher selection standards and a more professional command structure, although its soldiers are not trained paratroopers. Six of them (the 46th, 79th, 80th, 81st, 82nd, and 95th) have the same outstanding combat experience as the 92nd Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces and the 12th and 13th Mechanized Brigades of the National Guard.
On Tuesday, Ukrayinska Pravda quoted a January 11 order from the General Staff that a total of 50,000 soldiers from other branches of the military will be transferred to the Army as part of a plan to create corps units.
The main goal is to provide the corps with enough personnel to be able to rotate on the front line.