Operational Command West


Operational Command West is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces in western Ukraine. Its headquarters is located in Rivne.

History

When Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union, there were three Military Districts on its territory. These were the Kiev, Odessa and Carpathian Military Districts. In 1998, the Western Operational Command was created from the Carpathian Military District.
By 1 July 2006, the Western Operational Command consisted of units directly subordinated to the command and to the 13th Army Corps. These units were:
In October 2013, Operational Command North was created in Rivne. The Western Operational Command's headquarters was moved to Lviv and disbanded in August 2015. In November 2013, the 80th Airmobile Regiment was upgraded to brigade strength. From the beginning of 2015, Operational Command North was moved to Chernihiv. Operational Command West headquarters remained in Rivne. Major General Ihor Dovhan led the command from 2015.
In October 2015, the 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade was formed in the command. During late January and early February 2016, units of Operational Command West participated in joint training exercises with British instructors in Rivne. On 5 February, the command was assigned responsibility for Ground Forces troops in Volyn, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, and Chernivtsi Oblasts. As of December of that year, it included the 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade, the 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade, 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, 128th Separate Mountain Brigade, and 44th Separate Artillery Brigade. In March 2017, Major General Oleksandr Pavlyuk became commander of OC West after Dovhan was promoted to Deputy Commander of the Ground Forces for Combat Training.

Current Structure

Operational Command West has operational command of ground force units in Volyn, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, and Chernivtsi oblasts.
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 West: