Operational Command South

The Operational Command South (OC South) is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces in the southern part of Ukraine, which was formed in January 1998 as the Southern Operation Command on the basis of the Odessa Military District and headquartered in Odessa.

Operational Command South
OC South (blue)
Active	January 1998 – present
Country	Ukraine
Allegiance	Armed Forces of Ukraine
Branch	Army
Type	Military district
Role	Combined
Part of	Ukrainian Ground Forces
Garrison/HQ	Mykolaiv, Ukraine
Anniversaries	11 October 1939
Commanders
Current commander	Major General Andriy Hryshchenko[1]
Insignia
Sleeve patch

The Southern OK covers 9 oblasts and autonomous republics: Odessa, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk oblasts and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

In 2005-2013 it was known as the Southern Operation Association. In 2015 eastern parts of the operation command territory were passed on to newly formed Operation Command East based in Dnipropetrovsk. The headquarters of the OC South was relocated from Odessa to Mykolaiv.

Composition

By 1 July 2006, the Southern Operational Command included 6th Army Corps (6 AK) and other units comprising:

• 17th Separate Armoured Brigade (Krivyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast)
• 28th Guards Mechanised Brigade (Chornomorske, Odessa Oblast) reorganized as 28th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in 2015.
• 92nd Separate Mechanised Brigade Kluhoshyno-Bashkyrivka, Chuhuiv Raion, Kharkiv Oblast
• 93rd Separate Mechanised Brigade. Cherkaske Novomoskovsk Raion Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
• 55th Artillery Brigade (Zaporizhzhya)
• 107th Rocket Launcher Regiment (Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast)
• 25th Airborne Brigade Hvardiyske Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
• 79th Airmobile Brigade (Mykolaiv)
• 11th Army Aviation Regiment (Chornobayivka, Kherson Oblast)
• 1039th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Hvardiyske, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast)
• 3rd Separate special purpose Regiment. Kirovohrad
• 50 Academic squad of special training. Kirovohrad

Exercises that command units have taken part in include "Autumn-98", "reaction", "Southern redoubt-99", "Redoubt-2000", including peacekeeping – series of "Peace Shield", "Cossack Steppe," "common neighborhood", "Sea Breeze", "Fairway of Peace," "South," "cooperative partner" joint exercises with units of the armed forces of France and Italy.[2]

Current Structure

Structure of the Operational Command South in 2017 as per the best available Ukrainian language sources.

Operational Command South has operational command of ground force units in Vinnytsia, Odessa, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, and Kherson oblasts.

• Operational Command South, Odessa
  • 28th Mechanized Brigade, Chornomorske
  • 56th Motorized Brigade, Melitopol
  • 57th Motorized Brigade, Kropyvnytskyi
  • 59th Motorized Brigade, Haisyn
  • 40th Artillery Brigade, Pervomaisk
  • 38th Anti-aircraft Missile Regiment, Nova Odesa
  • 7th Signal Regiment, Odessa
  • 16th Engineer Regiment,
  • 145th Maintenance Regiment,
  • 131st Reconnaissance Battalion, Gushchintsy
  • 183rd Logistic Support Battalion, Balta
  • 225th Transport Battalion, Balta
  • 363rd Security & Service Battalion, Odessa
  • 91st Command & Intelligence Center, Krasnosilka
  • 64th Information & Signal Center, Odessa
  • Regional Radioelectronic Intelligence (REI) Center, Krasnosilka
    • 78th REI Center, Balta
    • 79th REI Center, Reni
    • 82nd Maneuverable REI Center, Krasnosilka
  • 23rd Electronic Warfare Company

Additionally the following major ground combat formations of other branches of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, respectively the ground forces, are based in the area of Operational Command South:

• Ground Forces:
  • 11th Army Aviation Brigade, in Kherson
• Air Assault Forces:
  • 45th Air Assault Brigade, in Bolhrad
  • 79th Air Assault Brigade, in Mykolaiv
  • 82nd Airmobile Brigade, in Kherson
• Naval Forces:
  • 36th Marine Infantry Brigade, in Mykolaiv
  • 406th Coastal Artillery Brigade, in Mykolaiv
  • 32nd Rocket Artillery Regiment, in Altestove
• Air Forces:
  • 160th Anti-aircraft Missile Brigade, in Odessa
  • 208th Anti-aircraft Missile Brigade, in Kherson
  • 201st Anti-aircraft Missile Regiment, in Pervomaysk
• Special Forces:
  • 3rd Special Forces Regiment, in Kropyvnytskyi
• Territorial Defense Forces
  • 120th Independent Territorial Defense Brigade
  • 121st Independent Territorial Defense Brigade
  • 122nd Independent Territorial Defense Brigade
  • 123rd Independent Territorial Defense Brigade
  • 124th Independent Territorial Defense Brigade

Leaders

Colonel General Volodymyr Shkidchenko commanded the Odessa Military District from December 1993 until it became the Southern Operational Command in February 1998.

• February 1998 – September 1998, Colonel General Volodymyr Shkidchenko
• 30 September 1998 – 19 December 2001, Colonel General Oleksandr Zatynaiko
• 2001 – 2004, Lieutenant-General Volodymyr Mozharovsky
• ? November 2003 – July 2005, Lieutenant General Hryhoriy Pedchenko
• 11 July 2005 – 25 June 2007, Lieutenant-General Ivan Svyda
• 10 July 2007 – 10 May 2012, Lieutenant-General Petro Lytvyn further appointed commander 8th Army Corps (Ukraine) (Zhytomyr)
• Major General Ihor Fedorov (Acting) Chief of Staff
• 2 July 2012 – Major General Anatoliy Sirotenko[3]
• 11 April 2015 – Major General Andriy Hryshchenko[4]

References

1. Holcomb, Franklin. The Order of Battle of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Institute for the Study of War, Washington DC.
2. 70th anniversary of the Southern Operational Command
3. http://dumskaya.net/news/v-odesse-smenilos-rukovodstvo-yugnogo-operativno-020440/
4. "Генерал армії України Степан Полторак в Одесі представив нового командувача військ оперативного командування «Південь» Сухопутних військ ЗС України" [Army General of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak in Odessa presented the new Commander of Operation Command South] (in Ukrainian). Press Center of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. 11 April 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.

External links

• Land Forces of Ukraine
• Southern Operational Command