The Intelligence Directorate of the General Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was established in February 1992. Based on a presidential decree issued on September 7, 1992, the Strategic Military Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence was created. The existence of two separate agencies with similar responsibilities, and reporting to different authorities, hampered the development of an effective military intelligence system.[2][3]
On July 6, 1993, the Decree of the President of Ukraine ordered the merging of the two agencies to form the Main Military Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence. It was renamed the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, or Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) for short, on April 4, 1994.[3][2]
On March 22, 2001, the Ukrainian parliament (Rada) ratified the Law of Ukraine "On Intelligence Agencies of Ukraine". The HUR was given the status of special government authority.[2]
On August 18, 2021, HUR special forces moved on Il-76MDs from the 25th Transport Aviation Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Force and flew to Kabul with the mission of evacuating citizens of Ukraine and foreigners during the 2021 Kabul airlift. In total, the aircraft of the brigade made six flights and transported more than 700 citizens of different countries. Special forces went to Kabul three times a day to find and bring citizens who were to be evacuated to the Kabul airport.[4]
On September 20, 2023, CNN reported[5] that Ukrainian special forces were likely behind multiple attacks on Wagner-backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF) forces in Sudan, using DJI Mavic 3 and first-person view (FPV) drones. In May 2023, HUR Chief Kyrylo Budanov vowed[6] to “destroy Russian war criminals anywhere in the world, wherever they are.” In March 2024, reports confirmed that HUR operators from the "Timur" unit were actively fighting Wagner and RSF in Sudan.[7][8]
In 2016, the HUR emblem was changed to an illustration of an owl plunging a sword into Russia. The owl has been said to be a tongue-in-cheek reference to the emblem of the Spetsnaz special forces of the Russian GRU, which depicts a bat - a natural prey of the owl.[9][citation needed] In addition, the motto "The wise will rule over the stars" (Latin: Sapiens Dominabitur Astris) ostensibly alludes to the GRU's motto "Only the stars are above us" (Russian: Выше нас только звёзды, romanized: Vyshe nas tolko zvyozdy). The new emblem was met with outrage from Russian journalists and politicians, including Dmitry Rogozin, and with some calling it a provocation.[10]
The Main Directorate of Intelligence conducts its activity in the military, political, technical, economic, signals, informational and environmental spheres.
The HUR has an executive office and several agency-wide functions, and five major directorates and departments consisting of the following:[citation needed]
Directorates:
Strategic Intelligence Directorate
Armed Forces General Staff Intelligence Support Directorate
Information Support Directorate
Personnel Policy Directorate
Logistic Directorate
Departments:
Internal Security Department
Planning Department
Automation and Communication Department
Economic and Finance Department
Information and state secret protection Department
Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the only field reconnaissance unit of the HUR was a special unit subordinated to the Directorate's 4th Special Intelligence Service (4-та Служба спеціальної розвідки):[citation needed]
Law of Ukraine "On the National Security of Ukraine", 1991
Law of Ukraine "On the Defense of Ukraine", 2018
Law of Ukraine "On Intelligence", 2020
Law of Ukraine "On Military Duty and Military Service", 1992
Law of Ukraine "On Central Bodies of Executive Power", 2011
Law of Ukraine "On Civil Service", 2015
Law of Ukraine "On International Treaties of Ukraine", 2004
Law of Ukraine "On the Fight Against Terrorism", 2003
Law of Ukraine "On Counter-Intelligence Activities", 2002
Law of Ukraine "On Operational and Investigative Activities", 1992
Law of Ukraine "On State Secrets", 1994
Law of Ukraine "On the Social and Legal Protection of Servicemen and Their Families", 1991
Presidential Decree "On the National Security Strategy of Ukraine", 2020
Presidential Decree "On the Military Security Strategy of Ukraine", 2021
Presidential Decree "On Additional Measures to Further Democratize Society and Strengthen Civil Control Over the Activities of Law Enforcement and Intelligence Agencies of Ukraine", 2004
Presidential Decree "On Ensuring Control over the Activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Other Military Formations", 2010
Presidential Decree "On Strengthening Control over the Activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Other Military Formations", 2015
Presidential Decree "On the Inter-Agency Commission on the Policy of Military-Technical Cooperation and Export Control", 2007
Presidential Decree "On Certain Issues of Leadership in the Spheres of National Security and Defense", 2008
Presidential Decree "On the Regulation of Military Service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine by Citizens of Ukraine", 2008
Born in Kharkiv 1955. Graduated from the Military Academy of Ground Forces Air-Defence in 1987 and the Kyiv University in 2000.
Lieutenant General Viktor Hvozd (January 17, 2008 – August 17, 2010)
Born in Ternopil Oblast 1959. Graduated from the Frunze Military College (Kyiv, 1981), Lviv University (1997), Magistrate of Kyiv University of Law and Economics (2005), Military-Diplomatic Academy (2009).
10th Separate Special Purpose Unit [uk] (10-й окремий загін спеціального призначення, Military Unit А2245), based in Rybalskyi Peninsula, Kyiv
49th Reconnaissance Training Center [uk][13]
54th Reconnaissance Battalion [uk][14]
74th Reconnaissance Battalion [uk][15]
120th Reconnaissance Regiment[16]
129th Reconnaissance Battalion [uk]
130th Reconnaissance Battalion [uk][17]
131st Reconnaissance Battalion [uk][18]
132nd Reconnaissance Battalion [uk][19]
140th Reconnaissance Battalion [uk][20]
"Shaman" Battalion [uk][21][22]
Special Purpose Unit "Kraken"[23]
Special Purpose Unit "Artan” [uk][24]
"Bratstvo" Battalion [uk][26]
"Stuhna" Battalion [uk][27]
Special Purpose UAV Unit "Wings" [uk][36]
International Legion of Defense Intelligence of Ukraine [uk] (part of the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine)[39]
