Odessa Military District
Colonel General Volodymyr Shkidchenko commanded the Odessa Military District from December 1993 until it became the Southern Operational Command in February 1998. Since January 3, 1998 the Odessa Military District was transformed into the Southern Operational Command of the Ukrainian Ground Forces according to the Decree of Ministry of Defense of Ukraine from July 1, 1997. The command encompasses nine oblasts: Odessa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kirovohrad, Kharkiv, and the autonomous republic of Crimea.