Ukrainian Ground Forces

The Ukrainian Ground Forces, also called the Ukrainian Army, are the land force and one of the eight branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They were formed from Ukrainian units of the Soviet Army after independence and were officially established on 6 December 1991, tracing their ancestry to the Ukrainian People's Army of 1917 to 1921. In 1992 they included roughly 245,000 personnel and 6,500 tanks and were the second largest army in Europe at the time, but they were afterwards downsized and underinvested until the war in Donbas began in April 2014, when Ukraine started to enlarge and modernise them. Their frontline formations are fighting in the war in Donbas and the ongoing Russian invasion.