In autumn 2014 most of the territorial defence battalions were reorganized as motorized infantry battalions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In 2022 the Territorial Defense Forces were created as a successor of the old territorial defense battalions.
Since 30 April 2014, all territorial defence battalions have been part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and fall under the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the governors of the oblasts (provinces) in which they were created.[15] By law, every oblast in Ukraine should create its own territorial defence battalions.[5]
6 May 2014 Ukraine began a second stage of mobilization.[16]
The 19th Territorial Defence Battalion was created in Mykolaiv and first used in the Mykolaiv area to set up roadblocks to slow separatist entry into the region. However, by July it had been deployed to Donbas to take a more active role in the ongoing war in Donbas, aiding other volunteer battalions and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.[17]
The 21st Territorial Defence Battalion was created in Kherson Oblast
22 July 2014 Ukraine began third stage of mobilisation[19]
The 37th Territorial Defence Battalion was formed between 29 August 2014[20] and 8 September 2014 in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. According to Zaporizhzhia Oblast Governor Valeriy Baranov the battalion will be the first of its kind to receive tanks.[21]
During the opening stages of the war in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military and police forces were largely ineffective in separatist areas, often surrendering equipment or overwhelmed in cities by large crowds of civilians. Federalist and pro-Russian insurgents quickly gained large swaths of territory. Ukraine also lost control of the Ukrainian–Russian border and this allowed a large inflow of insurgents and military supplies from Russia.
By August 2014 over 5,600 volunteers had joined defence battalions across Ukraine and about 7,000 volunteers had joined by the end of September.[22][23]
The Russian Communist Party pushed to label the battalions as terrorist organizations, even though they are directly subordinate to the Government of Ukraine and are legal government agencies of Ukraine.[24] Russian politicians have not pushed for declaring pro-Russian insurgents fighting in Ukraine as terrorists.
On 10 November 2014 Stepan Poltorak, the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, ordered territorial defence battalions to reorganize as motorized infantry battalions.[27][28]
2022 Russian full-scale invasion
Before the invasion, the Ukrainian military had already begun an expansion process of the territorial defense forces in preparation of the Russian invasion.[29] After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian government announced general mobilisation [30] and formed new territorial defense battalions to accommodate the influx in men. Theoretically, the TDF could field up to 150 battalions.[31] In social media statements by the TDF, several previously unseen battalion numbers (some exceeding the theoretical 150 number), such as the 103rd,[32] 124th,[33] 130th,[34] 251st [35] etc. were mentioned, indicating that the TDF has likely expanded far past the initially planned size.
12th Territorial Defence Battalion "Kyiv" (Kyiv city) (reformed into the 12th Motorized Infantry Battalion and in June 2016 it was assigned under the command of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade)
15th Territorial Defence Battalion "Sumy" (Sumy Oblast) (In late 2014, it reformed into the 15th Motorized Infantry Battalion under the command of the 58th Motorized Brigade)
16th Territorial Defence Battalion "Poltava" (Poltava Oblast) (In late 2014, it reformed into the 16th Motorized Infantry Battalion under the command of the 58th Motorized Brigade)
17th Territorial Defence Battalion "Kirovohrad" (Kirovohrad Oblast) (In late 2014, it was reformed into the 17th Motorized Infantry Battalion and was put under the command of the 57th Motorized Brigade)
21st Territorial Defence Battalion "Sarmat" (Kherson Oblast) (In 2015, reformed into the 21st Motorized Infantry Battalion and was put under the command of the 56th Motorized Brigade)
37th Territorial Defence Battalion (Zaporizhzhia Oblast) (In 2015, reformed into the 37th Motorized Infantry Battalion and was put under the command of the 56th Motorized Brigade)
40th Territorial Defence Battalion "Kryvbas" (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast) (it reorganized into the 40th Motorized Infantry Battalion and was put under the command of the 17th Tank Brigade until the disbandment of the Battalion in April 2015)
43rd Territorial Defence Battalion "Patriot" (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast) (reorganized into the 43rd Motorized Infantry Battalion of the 53rd Mechanized Brigade)
"Сумы cоздают батальон территориальной обороны"[A territorial defence battalion is being formed in Sumy, which will be subordinate to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine]. Ukrinform (in Russian). 24 April 2014. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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