Armed Forces of Ukraine

The Armed Forces of Ukraine is the national military organisation responsible for the defence of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. It conducts land, air and naval operations to protect Ukraine from external threats and to support internal security when required. Headquartered in Ukraine, the force operates under the authority of the Ministry of Defence and carries out missions that range from conventional warfare to peacekeeping and disaster response.

As the principal armed force of the state, its area of responsibility extends across the entire national territory, where it maintains readiness to respond to any aggression. While specific personnel numbers or budget figures are not provided in the source material, the organisation’s role is central to Ukraine’s national security architecture.

The organisation has been repeatedly targeted in cyber operations that aim to disrupt its communications and undermine public confidence, including distributed denial‑of‑service attacks on its websites and state‑owned banks in February 2022. In January 2022, multiple government sites linked to the defence ministry were defaced through exploitation of a vulnerable content‑management system, and earlier incidents in 2018 and 2019 involved malware‑laden spear‑phishing campaigns attributed to groups such as Gamaredon and actors associated with the Luhansk People’s Republic. These attacks have demonstrated the force’s exposure to sophisticated threat actors and have prompted defensive measures such as geofencing of web traffic and takedowns of bot farms spreading disinformation. Despite the intrusions, Ukrainian authorities have often attributed the activity to foreign‑linked threat groups and have worked to restore services while improving cyber resilience.

Structurally, the Armed Forces of Ukraine is a state‑owned entity, subordinate to the civilian leadership of the Ukrainian government and integrated within the broader defence and security establishment. It does not have private shareholders or a parent company, deriving its authority and funding directly from the state budget.