page_title: Ukrainian Ground Forces
section_title: Military training and education centers
hierarchical_section_title: Ukrainian Ground Forces / Military training and education centers
caption_attribution_description: Special Forces by Andriy Ageev
context_page_description: The Ukrainian Ground Forces are the land force component of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They were formed from Soviet Ground Forces formations, units, and establishments, including three military districts, that were on Ukrainian soil when the Soviet Union collapsed.
  Since Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 Ukraine retained its Soviet-era army equipment. Also, the Armed Forces have been systematically downsized since 1991 and as a result it was largely dilapidated in July 2014. Since the start of the War in Donbass in April 2014 in eastern Ukraine, Ukraine continues to upgrade its Armed Forces. Its size of 129,950 in March 2014 had grown to 204,000 active personnel in May 2015, with the Ground Forces branch having 169,000 soldiers as of 2016. In 2016, 75% of the army consisted of contract servicemen. Ukraine's ground forces have also received more modern tanks, APCs, and many other types of combat equipment.
context_section_description: Training in 2006 was aimed at developing mobility and combat readiness of the forces. The Ukrainian armed forces took advantage of the opportunities provided by UN exercises and exercises where Ukraine and NATO nations and other partners participated.
  Training resulted in 6,000 combat-ready troops in the spring of 2014 of Ukraine's (then) 129,950 active military personnel. In 2016 the Ukrainian army had more than 200,000 combat-ready soldiers of its 260,000 active personnel.
  In 2015 Ukraine, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada established the Joint Multinational Training Group – Ukraine (JMTG-U) and they set up three new training sites, in Khmelnytskyi, Yavoriv and Kamianets-Podilskyi.
caption: Ukrainian special forces soldiers during an exercise
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