The Republic of Estonia will assist Ukraine to develop the concept of territorial defense, as well as the practical implementation of the pilot project in several regions of Ukraine.
This was agreed on November 26 as part of the visit of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine to Tallinn, where Andriy Zagorodnyuk met with the Minister of Defense of Estonia, Juri Luik. Following the meeting, a Declaration of Intent for Cooperation within the Territorial Defense sphere was signed.
The concept of territorial defense of Ukraine will be developed taking into account the experience of functioning of the Estonian Defense League (Estonian: Eesti Kaitseliit), which is subordinated to the Ministry Defense of Estonia and is part of the Estonian Defense Forces.
Earlier, in 2018, 25 territorial defense brigades were formed in the Ukrainian Land Forces based on former local defense units.
The Brigades are made up of several dozen people and, if necessary, are completed with reservists, equipment and weapons. Each brigade consists of six battalions territorial defense, fire support and anti-sabotage companies, mortar battery, engineer company and logistic units.
In July 2019, Deputy Secretary of the NSDC, Major General Serhiy Kryvonos, severely criticized Ukraine's territorial defense and called it an imitation of a tumultuous process. Currently, the search for ways to improve territorial defense is ongoing.
