The structure of the USSR Armed Forces included five different branches of the military, namely: ground forces, air forces, air defense forces, strategic missile forces and the navy. These troops were controlled through the USSR Ministry of Defense and the General Staff. In addition to these structures, there were armed formations that were subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Security Committee.
The territory of the USSR in 1960-1990. was divided into fifteen military districts, three of which are on the territory of Ukraine. The typical composition of a military district at that time included, in addition to combined arms and tank armies, artillery divisions, missile, anti-aircraft missile, air assault, radio engineering, engineering and communications brigades, as well as chemical defense and material support brigades and automobile brigades.
The district included a helicopter regiment, a pontoon-bridge regiment and an electronic warfare regiment. Thus, on the territory of Ukraine there was one of the most powerful military groups in the USSR. According to historians, it numbered 780-900 thousand people. It is important to note that after World War II, military contingents of the USSR took part in 24 local wars and armed conflicts on the territory of 16 foreign states.
The needs of the army were ensured by the high level of militarization of the country's economic complex. Under the highly extensive planned economy, 12-13% of the Soviet Union's GDP was used for defense. The share of the defense budget in the state budget of the USSR could range from 45% to 50%. 30% of all capacities of the military-industrial complex of the USSR were located on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR. These are more than 3.5 thousand organizations that employed about 3 million people.
Among them were enterprises specializing in the production of various military equipment, especially missile systems. In civilian plants and factories there were closed workshops, the so-called “mailboxes”. Their activities were financed first. For the needs of these facilities, the best raw materials were allocated and advanced personnel were sent. At the same time, the number of enterprises with a closed production cycle on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR amounted to only 3% to 4%, and the majority of finished products were produced in the RSFSR.
At the turn of the 80s. XX century In the Soviet Union, the preconditions for a rapidly growing crisis were formed, caused by a planned economy and ineffective communist governance of the country. Despite the fact that at every party forum there was a thesis about expanding the powers of councils at all levels and improving the financial situation of society, the replacement of Soviet institutions with the power of party officials and huge expenses in the military sphere naturally led to a crisis in the socio-economic and political life of the country. The collapse of the national economic potential of the USSR brought to the surface many long-standing social problems and began to threaten the existence of the state as such.
Therefore, trying to maintain a political monopoly on power, the communist leadership decides to make measured changes in the context of a synthesis of market and planned economic methods and democratic and autocratic political instruments. However, despite the proclaimed “perestroika”, “acceleration”, “democratization”, “pluralism” and “glasnost”, the pro-Russian CPSU, with the support of the security forces, continued to maintain a controlling influence on all spheres of life of Soviet society.
The implementation of the military doctrine of “new thinking” by the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Mikhail Gorbachev included recognition of the exhaustiveness of the arms race and the slow action of the Soviet economy, the elimination of medium- and short-range missiles within the framework of the Soviet-American treaty of 1987 and personnel optimization of the army. The provision of reliable social guarantees to military personnel and the renewal of party work in the direction of delineating the mutual influence of Soviet and party bodies were guaranteed.
At that time, approximately 160 thousand Ukrainian military personnel took part in the Soviet troops involved in Afghanistan. The long war not only depleted the budget of the Ukrainian SSR, but also caused significant human losses. In 1989, it became known that more than 3 thousand Ukrainians were killed and thousands were injured as a result of hostilities.
The secrecy of the lists of the dead, the distortion of information about the current course of the war and the hushing up of its consequences strengthened the negative attitude towards the allied communist government and contributed to the spread of discontent among the military and civilian residents of the republic. According to official statistics, in 1989 in the USSR, 6.5 thousand people refused military conscription, that is, 6.3 times more than in 1988. Among the “disadvantaged” regions, the Carpathian Military District, which operated in the western regions of the Ukrainian SSR, stood out. where the number of so-called “draft dodgers” increased almost 10 times during the year.
Therefore, on March 21, 1989, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a decree “On the reduction of the Armed Forces of the USSR and defense spending during 1989-1990.” According to it, during this period, 500 thousand military personnel were subject to reduction. On April 10, 1989, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR granted the right to defer conscription to students who were full-time students of higher educational institutions. Border, internal and railway troops were withdrawn from the armed forces of the USSR. They retained the duty of military conscription for citizens of the appropriate age, the conditions and terms of service, and recruitment on the model of other units of the Soviet army and navy.
During the unsuccessful implementation of military reform and other innovations of “perestroika” in the Ukrainian SSR, the activity of national associations, councils of labor collectives, informal unions, and, over time, political parties significantly intensified. They set themselves the task of fighting against the domination of the Russian political regime on Ukrainian lands.
At first, these formations were centers of political debate. From them grew cells for the development of a general democratic movement, which transformed into a national liberation movement. The patriotic public of the Ukrainian SSR clearly realized that the restoration of political independence of Ukraine was impossible without the reliable support of the Ukrainian military.
The activities of national societies aimed at creating a Ukrainian army were significantly intensified by the successes of opposition forces in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Armenia and Georgia. For example, contrary to the legislation of the USSR, the Ministry of Regional Protection was created in Lithuania.
During crowded rallies, the leaders of the People's Movement of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Helsinki Union, the Union of Independent Ukrainian Youth, along with putting forward national slogans such as “Down with the USSR! Ukraine – freedom!”, demanded military service of Ukrainians in Ukraine and the creation of local security forces subordinate to future newly elected councils. On February 7, 1990, the Ukrainian Military Committee was created in Lviv with the support of the Spadshchina society.
He was the organizer of mass protests and “relay fasting” events throughout Ukraine. Subsequently, committees for the creation of Ukrainian national armed forces were formed in Lvov, Ternopol, Kharkov and other cities of the Ukrainian SSR. Their task was to carry out propaganda work among reservists and military personnel, participants in youth organizations with a call to become part of the Ukrainian army.
After elections to the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR and local councils in March 1990, the democratic parliamentary composition initiated changes in the military sphere, in particular, it approved the possibility of military service on the territory of Ukraine. Taking into account the spring conscription, patriotic deputies of regional councils tried to begin the formation of a national army, demanding that representatives of regional executive committees and public organizations be included in the draft and medical commissions. This initiative encountered fierce resistance from the General Staff in Moscow.
Subsequently, on March 28, 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted the Law “On Amendments to the USSR Law “On Universal Military Duty”,” which changed the procedure for conscription and exemption from military service in the direction of its centralization. If in 1967 the conscription campaign and transfer to the reserve began on the basis of a decree of the USSR Ministry of Defense, then in the 1990 edition this issue was resolved only by the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
However, on July 16, 1990, the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR adopted the “Declaration on the State Sovereignty of Ukraine,” in which it recognized the determination of the procedure for military service only for itself.
On July 30, 1990, the Supreme Council adopted a resolution “On compulsory military service by citizens of the Ukrainian SSR and the use of law enforcement officers of the republic,” according to which the Council of Ministers was instructed to ensure the return to their permanent place of service within a month of law enforcement officers of the republic involved in the protection of public order and localization of interethnic conflicts in other regions of the country.
The deadline for the return of Ukrainian military personnel was determined to be December 1, 1990. Separately, it was noted about the procedure for transferring citizens undergoing compulsory military service from areas where ethnic conflicts occurred to the territory of Ukraine and a new procedure for conscription into military service was established. Starting from September 15, 1990, conscription into military units located on the territory of Ukraine should have been carried out.
However, the detailed mechanism for implementing the resolution was not established. The Verkhovna Rada appealed to the government about the unsatisfactory implementation of its resolutions. In turn, the government pointed out the inconsistency of the new laws, which did not comply with all-Union legislation. In order to implement the concept of building the Ukrainian army, a permanent commission under the Verkhovna Rada on issues of external and internal security was created. It was headed by Vasily Durdinets.
To coordinate work with the USSR Ministry of Defense and its local authorities on issues of conscription of citizens for active military service, ensuring interaction with military commissariats, local councils of people's deputies and relevant public associations under the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR, a Communications Committee was created on September 13, 1990 with the USSR Ministry of Defense.
The central apparatus consisted of a department for armed forces issues and a department for relations with military commissariats. Its main task was to implement the resolution of the Supreme Council of the Ukrainian SSR of July 30, 1990 “On compulsory military service by citizens of the Ukrainian SSR and the use of law enforcement officers of the republic outside its borders.”
Already on November 27, 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was visited by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR, Mikhail Moiseev. During his speech, the Russian general criticized Ukrainian laws regarding military service by citizens of the USSR. Moscow's anti-Ukrainian plans became apparent on December 1, 1990, when the decree of USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev “On certain acts on defense issues adopted in the union republics” was published. It noted that the decisions of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR jeopardized the defense capability of the USSR.
For mutual understanding with the union leadership, on October 10, 1990, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine sent a delegation led by Vladimir Grinev to Moscow. But the union center did not accept the demands of the Ukrainian deputies. The Supreme Council of the USSR recognized the decisions of the republican parliaments as having a negative impact on the socio-political situation in the country. As a solution to the confrontation, it was proposed to conclude bilateral agreements, which would be based on the current legislation of the USSR.
Despite the proclaimed “Declaration of the Sovereignty of Ukraine,” the processes of formation of its military structures occurred slowly. Therefore, the press of those times called the army a “bastion of stagnation.” Due to the boycott of the spring conscription, the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces was forced to call up for military service those with a criminal record, which amounted to about 3% of the total number of military personnel. Then some regional councils of Ukraine decided not to count as deserters military personnel who received moral and physical damage caused by hazing and left their place of service without permission.
Therefore, on September 8, 1990, the Organization of Soldiers' Mothers of Ukraine, in a resolution of the first congress, addressed the President of the USSR, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the Minister of Defense, and the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR with demands for reforming the armed forces based on the introduction of the principle of voluntary conscription. The participants demanded the creation of a Supreme Council commission to investigate the deaths of Ukrainian citizens during military service.
The organization published an appeal to sovereign republics with a request to recall military personnel from their places of service to their territory. During the Revolution on Granite in October 1990, students demanded reforms in the army and ensuring that Ukrainian citizens perform compulsory military service outside the republic only with voluntary consent.
Already in November 1990, numerous public self-defense squads, security services, and law enforcement departments functioned in the Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Volyn, Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Poltava, Kherson and Chernihiv regions.
Their functions included protecting rally participants and resisting law enforcement agencies in the event of aggression. The most mobile and capable included “Varta”, created by the Lviv branch of the NRU, the Ivano-Frankivsk “Security Service” of the SNUM, the “Banner Protection Group” of the Ukrainian Inter-Party Assembly in Kiev, the “Carpathian Brotherhood of the UPA”, etc.
Practical steps towards the development of the Ukrainian armed forces were made on April 28, 1991, when the Verkhovna Rada created the Commission on Defense and State Security, which included 27 people's deputies headed by Vasily Durdynets. On June 5, 1991, the position of State Minister for Defense, National Security and Emergency Situations of the Ukrainian SSR appeared in the government. It was taken over by Evgeniy Marchuk.
However, the Russian communist elite was not going to lose its monopoly influence on the army. On June 22, 1991, the “Decree of the President of the USSR on approval of the regulations on military councils in the Armed Forces of the USSR, troops of the State Security Committee of the USSR, internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR and railway troops” was adopted.
According to its provisions, military councils consisting of 5 to 13 people became permanent collegial bodies of military-political leadership, representing the President of the USSR in each group of troops. They were responsible for the functioning of all military structures in the regions of the country and interaction with state and local authorities.
It should be noted that the Moscow draft of the new union treaty formally transferred the implementation of measures to organize and ensure the protection of citizens and the establishment of conscription and military service, as well as the resolution of issues related to the army, into the sphere of joint jurisdiction of the union and the republics. But the adoption on August 24, 1991 by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the “Act of Proclamation of Independence of Ukraine” and the law “On Military Formations in Ukraine” subordinated all military units stationed on the territory of the country to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
Even then, the union leadership of the non-existent state continued to oppose the development of the national armed forces of Ukraine. On November 4 and 14, 1991, the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation decided to preserve the Ministry of Defense as an interstate body for the management of all troops of the former Soviet Union. However, on December 6, 1991, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the law “On the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” which became the basis for the creation of an army of an independent state.
So, the formation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the turn of the 80-90s. XX century passed a difficult path from a “bastion of stagnation” to a guarantor of its independence. The stages of this process were the formation of defense units of national anti-communist societies and parties, the formation of law enforcement squads subordinate to newly elected democratic councils, and the like. This course of events ended with the Ukrainization of Soviet troops stationed on Ukrainian lands after the restoration of state independence of Ukraine.
