The Ukrainian Marine Corps (Ukrainian: Корпус морської піхоти України, lit.'Corps of marine infantry of Ukraine'), also known simply as the Ukrainian Marines (Ukrainian: Морська піхота України, romanized: Morska pikhota Ukrainy, lit. 'Marine Infantry of Ukraine'),[5] is the maritime land force service branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since 2023, responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations. From its modern foundation in 1993 up to 2023 it constituted part of the Coastal Forces of the Ukrainian Navy. It is used as a component part of amphibious, airborne and amphibious-airborne operations, alone or in coordination with formations and units of the Ground Forces in order to capture parts of the seashore, islands, ports, fleet bases, coast airfields and other coast objects from the enemy. It can also be used to defend naval bases, vital shoreline areas, separate islands and coast objects, and security of hostile areas.[6]
Act independently during attacks on enemy naval installations, ports, islands and coastal areas
Clear the enemy's coastal areas & provide amphibious landing elements and security forces in support of its own mission or with elements of the Ground Forces and other uniformed organizations
(since 2023) provide, alongside the Navy, the country's coastal defense capabilities against enemy shipping and enemy amphibious attacks[7]
Former Russian Imperial army general Pavlo Skoropadskyi understood the importance of naval infantry in providing security to the country. Being the commander-in-chief of land and naval forces, Skoropadskyi brought attention to creating the naval infantry during his first month in power. On May 23, 1918, he ordered the Department of Navy to Begin forming a Brigade of naval infantry consisting of three regiments.[4][8][9]
The mission of the Naval Infantry was protecting coastal areas, serving as a garrison force for forts and conducting landing operations. According to the order the Brigade was divided into three regiments. First regiment was responsible for the areas between the western border until the village of Suchavka, near Odesa. Second regiment was responsible for territory between Suchavka and Stanislavov. Third regiment protected the areas from Stanislavov until Perekop. Brigade was also put in charge of guarding the property of the Navy Department.[8]
Each of the three regiments consisted of three kurins. Each kurin consisted of three Sotnia and a machine gun unit. Commandant of the first regiment was Ilarion Isaievych [uk].[8]
On August 31, 1918, each unit was given the permanent headquarters. First regiment's HQ was located in Odesa, second's HQ in Mykolaiv and third's HQ in Kherson. Also at this time 3 squadrons of cavalry were formed. First was stationed in Odesa, second in Ochakiv and third in Perekop.[8]
In October 1918 new recruits born in 1899, would have joined the ranks of the naval infantry, however due to the political situation of that autumn the recruits had to wait until a better time.[8]
Not long after, Pavlo Skoropadskyi was removed from power in an uprising led by Symon Petliura. The Naval Infantry continued to faithfully serve their nation under the banner of the Ukrainian People's Republic. Many of them have died for freedom and independence.[8]
After the Navy was created on July 1, 1993, as a separate service branch of the Armed Forces, the first battalion of the Naval Infantry was formed in the city of Sevastopol.[7][11] The first naval infantrymen were transferred from the airmobile units. On September 1, 1993, the 41st Separate Naval Infantry Battalion was formed. By September 20, 1994, the 4th Naval Infantry Brigade was stationed in the Tylove village of Crimea.[11]
From May 1996 until 1998, the Brigade was a part of the Ukrainian National Guard.[11] In 1998, it was transferred to the Navy and re-designated the 1st Separate Naval Infantry Brigade.[11] In 1999, the Brigade consisted of two battalions numbering 1,500 marines.[12]
During 2003–04, the Ukrainian armed forces underwent a program to reduce the number of brigades, and the Naval Infantry Brigade was reduced to a Battalion.[11]
A Ukrainian Naval Infantry BTR-80 takes part in Exercise Sea Breeze 2010.US and Ukrainian marines simulating casualty extraction using a Mi-8 during the multinational Sea Breeze exercise in 2011.
The command of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine made a decision to form a new Naval Infantry battalion by force of a mechanised battalion located in Kerch. In December 2013 the militaries of the new 501st Separate Naval Infantry Battalion have taken the Naval Infantry Oath.[13]
The 1st Separate Naval Infantry Battalion was under the jurisdiction of the 36th Separate Coastal Defense Brigade,[7] and it was stationed in Feodosiya and there was also another one battalion (501st Bn.) which was stationed in Kerch; both were in the Crimea until late March 2014. After the Russian annexation of the Crimea the battalions were deployed to another location out of the peninsula. After the annexation of Crimea Ukraine's marine forces composed of only about 200 active duty personnel.[14]
Special reconnaissance units of the Marine Corps were deployed against insurgents during the 2014 war in Donbas. Oleksandr Zinchenko of the 73rd Spetsnaz Detachment was the first Ukrainian Marine killed during the war in Donbas.[15] The Ukrainian Marine Corps was particularly hard hit by the Crimea Crisis as all of their forces except for the 73rd Spetsnaz Detachment were stationed on the peninsula, due to this the unit had to undergo extensive reorganization before being able to be deployed to the war in the Donbas.[16][17][18][19]
In September 2014 the Ministry of Defense announced that the Marine Corps were reforming from the Crimea Crisis and the remaining members of the 1st Marine Battalion which was stationed in Feodosya would take an active part in the war in Donbas.[20] On 29 October 2014 Ukraine's Marine Corps conventional forces, recently recovered from the Crimea Crisis suffered their first casualty near Mariupol, the Marine was a Major and was killed when his unit's position came under Russian artillery fire.[21]
On 8 November 2014 Ukrainian marines returned to their permanent place of deployment in Mykolaiv as part of a regular rotation of Ukrainian forces during the war in Donbas.[22]
On 23 May 2018, the NI celebrated the first Marine Corps Birthday celebrations, the holiday being officially sanctioned by President Petro Poroshenko as part of a nationalization of the former Soviet holidays, replacing those with the ones celebrating Ukrainian military history. The holiday marked the formation of the first marine units in May 1918, during the Ukrainian War of Independence. New colours were awarded incorporating the speciality badge awarded to the unit in 2007. The NI was transformed into the Fleet Marine Division with 2 brigades and an independent brigade of marine artillery. The former black berets were changed to light green following the practice of the British Royal Marines and the Italian Army Lagunari.[23][24][25]
The new colours include the blue cross from the naval ensign as an acknowledgement of its role as a constituent service of the Navy. Plans are underway for the formation of a 3rd Marine brigade, bringing the total number of brigades to four plus one MRL regiment, with an option for a fourth brigade.
If the expansion continues it can be possible that the Naval Infantry Corps will be elevated to a full Corps-sized formation within the Navy, becoming the largest ever marine unit in Eastern Europe outside of Russia and with possible accession to NATO, the largest marine component within its European member armed forces.
The ideal goal in the reform of the Marine Corps is to form a unit which would be similar to the units sent to Iraq. It is planned that there will be no more conscripts in the Corps, only professional naval infantrymen under contract service.[26]
On 12 April 2022, videos have emerged of fighters apparently from the 501st Battalion of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade vowing not to surrender their positions, saying "We are holding on to every bit of the city wherever possible," and "But the reality is the city is encircled and blocked and there was no re-supply of ammunition or food,".[27] The next day, Russian Defence Ministry as well as the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov announced 1,026 Ukrainian Marines, including 162 officers, of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade laid down their weapons and surrendered in Mariupol.[28][29] Ukrainian Defence Ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said he had no information about the claim, and there was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian President's office nor the Ukrainian general staff.[30] A top advisor to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said another Marine unit that was encircled in the middle of Mariupol had broken through to connect with the Azov Regiment and that Mariupol is still standing.[31] By 16 April, the Marines and Azov had entrenched themselves in the Azovstal iron and steel works, the last Ukrainian bastion in Mariupol.[32] By May 17, most Azovstal defenders surrendered.[33]
Promotion to service branch of the Armed Forces[edit]
In celebration of the 105th Marine Corps Birthday on 23 May 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his capacity as Supreme Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, in a visit to a Marine Corps installation announced that effective that day, in gratitude for service to the nation and people, especially during the ongoing Russian invasion, after more than three decades since its reactivation the Marine Corps was to be officially separated from the Ukrainian Navy and was elevated into a service branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with its Commandant General now a part of the General Staff and appointed by the Commander in Chief of the AFU.[34][35]
While it will be a separate service branch of the Armed Forces, arrangements have been made for the Navy to continue assisting the Marine Corps in its amphibious operations through its landing craft and providing air cover as well as providing shore gunnery support from its vessels for its landing operaions. The decision to bifurcate from the Navy proper and become an independent branch of the AFU was made with the needs of the Corps and its growing number of servicemen and women currently fighting against Russian forces during the ongoing invasion taken into account, as well as the status of its constituent formations and its mission and obligations in regards to provisions of the Constitution and laws of the republic as a part of the wider Armed Forces in both war and peace. The Corps will also continue to provide Marine detachments to serve in the Navy's seagoing and riverine assets and in defense of its naval bases and stations.[36]
With the separation, the Fleet Marine Division was transformed into the 1st Marine Division, responsible for the operational combat formations of the Marine Corps. The Navy's overall ground based coastal defense capabilities have been under Marine Corps control since the separation.
On 23 May 2023 the Marine Corps, after more than three decades, had its status elevated to that of a service branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the former Fleet Marine Division was transformed into the 1st Marine Division Ukrainian Marine Corps. The Commandant General's status was finally raised into one equal to that of the other service commanders of the armed forces. With the new status the Marine Corps' brigades and pre-war battalions received new coat of arms effective July.
In the following list only the pre-war marine battalions of the four marine brigades are listed:
Marine Corps General Command/Headquarters XXX Amphibious Corps UkrMC, in Mykolaiv
80th Marine Corps Headquarters and Service Battalion
According to blogs, each marine brigade is organized into the following:
Headquarters and Service Company
three to 5-6 marine battalions (one air assault capable)
HSC
3-4 Marine rifle companies
Marine landing equipment/assault amphibhian company
Recon company
Sniper company
MANPADS company/platoon
mortar battery
Marine Tank Battalion
Marine Artillery Regiment
with a HQ and Service Battery, target acquisition unit, either two self-propelled artillery battalions and an optional one or two towed field artillery battalion/s or two to three mixed artillery battalions, a rocket launcher artillery battalion and an anti-tank battalion (under regiment but otherwise under direct brigade control)
Marine Air Defense Missile Artillery battalion/regiment
Plans for the creation of the XXX Amphibious Corps, with the 1st Marine Division and the 126th and 32nd Brigades as its primary elements, were finalized in April 2024.[42]
AMX-10 RC wheeled light tanks/armored reconnaissance vehicles in Marine Tank Battalions and Marine Reconnaissance
FV101 Scorpion tracked light tanks/armored reconnaissance vehicles in Marine Tank Battalions and Marine Reconnaissance
BMP-1, BMP-2, BMP-3 tracked infantry fighting vehicles in tracked Marine Battalions and Marine Assault Amphibian Battalions
BTR-3, BTR-4, KTO Rosomak wheeled infantry fighting vehicles in wheeled Marine Battalions and Marine Assault Amphibian Battalions
BTR-60, BTR-70, BTR-80, BTR-7, VAB, Patria Pasi wheeled armored personnel carriers in wheeled Marine Battalions and Marine Assault Amphibian Battalions
MT-LB, PTS series (PTS-2 and PTS-3) and M113 tracked armored personnel carriers in tracked Marine Battalions and Marine Assault Amphibian Battalions
Ukraine
Ukrainian Armed Forces
Marine Corps General Command/Headquarters XXX Amphibious Corps UkrMC, in Mykolaiv
80th Marine Corps Headquarters and Service Battalion
Marine Corps Basic School, in Mykolaiv
241st Marine Corps Recruit Training Center
35th Marine Brigade, in Dachne
18th Marine Battalion
88th Marine Battalion (Air Assault)
137th Marine Battalion
36th Marine Brigade, in Mykolaiv (formed on 20 July 2015 from the 1st and 501st Separate Marine Battalions)
1st Marine Battalion
501st Marine Battalion
37th Marine Brigade (formed in February 2023 from the 505th Separate Marine Battalion)
505th Marine Battalion
38th Marine Brigade (formed in February 2023 from the 503rd Separate Marine Battalion)
503rd Marine Battalion
406th Marine Artillery Brigade, in Mykolaiv
140th Force Reconnaissance Battalion
32nd Marine Artillery Brigade, in Altestove
414th Marine Strike UAV Battalion "Madyar's Birds" (raised in January 2024, previously a UAV company within the 59th Motorized Brigade[41], slated for reflagging as a regiment)
