The 4th Guards Tank Division is a Guards armoured division of the Russian Ground Forces. The division is named after Yuri Andropov.
The 92nd Assault Brigade "Ivan Sirko", abbreviated 92 OShBr, is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. Its honorific name is after Cossack military leader Ivan Sirko. The unit was formed in 1999 as the 6th Mechanized Division based on the 6th Division of the National Guard of Ukraine. In 2000 it was reorganized as the 92nd Mechanized Brigade. Following the Russo-Ukrainian war and the 2015 decommunization in Ukraine, the brigade's Soviet honors and heritage were purged.
The 200th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Pechenga Order of Kutuzov Brigade is a military formation of the 14th Army Corps, part of the Leningrad Military District, based at Pechenga in Murmansk Oblast. The brigade was formed from the 131st Motor Rifle Division in 1997 and was one of the two Russian Arctic warfare brigades.
Arsen Borysovych Avakov is a Ukrainian statesman and politician of Armenian origin. Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in 2014–2021. Member of Parliament of Ukraine (2012–2014), Chairman of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration (2005–2010), Member of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Member of Euro 2012 Organizing Committee (2007). Member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. Honored Economist of Ukraine (2007).
From the end of February 2014, in the aftermath of the Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity, which resulted in the ousting of Russian-leaning Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, demonstrations by Russian-backed, pro-Russian, and anti-government groups took place in Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv and Odesa. The unrest, which was supported by the Russian military and intelligence services, belongs to the early stages of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
The National Guard of Ukraine is the Ukrainian national gendarmerie and internal military force. It is part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, responsible for public security. Originally created as an agency under the direct control of the Verkhovna Rada on 4 November 1991, following Ukrainian independence, it was later disbanded and merged into the Internal Troops of Ukraine in 2000 by President Leonid Kuchma as part of a "cost-saving" scheme. Following the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, amidst the Russian intervention, the National Guard was re-established, and the Internal Troops were disbanded.
Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, primarily the People's Militias of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), were pro-Russian paramilitaries in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. They were under the overall control of the Russian Federation. They were also referred to as Russian proxy forces. They were active during the war in Donbas (2014–2022), the first stage of the Russo-Ukrainian War. They then supported the Russian Armed Forces against the Ukrainian Armed Forces during the 2022 Russian invasion. In September 2022, Russia annexed the DPR and LPR, and began integrating the paramilitaries into its armed forces. They are designated as terrorist groups by the government of Ukraine.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine are the military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the President of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rada parliamentary commission. They trace their lineage to 1917, while the modern armed forces were formed again in 1991. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are the fifth largest armed force in the world in terms of both active personnel as well as total number of personnel with the eighth largest defence budget in the world, and it also operates one of the largest and most diverse drone fleets in the world. Due to the Russo-Ukrainian War, ongoing in 2024, the Ukrainian Armed Forces has been described as "the most battle-hardened in Europe," but has suffered many casualties.
The 12th Special Operations Brigade "Azov" is a formation of the National Guard of Ukraine formerly based in Mariupol, in the coastal region of the Sea of Azov, from which it derives its name. It was founded in May 2014 as the Azov Battalion, a self-funded volunteer militia under the command of Andriy Biletsky, to fight Russian-backed forces in the Donbas War. It was formally incorporated into the National Guard on 11 November 2014, and redesignated Special Operations Detachment "Azov", also known as the Azov Regiment. In February 2023, the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that Azov was to be expanded as a brigade of the new Offensive Guard.
The Sich Battalion, officially known as the 4th Sich Company of the Kyiv Regiment, is a Ukrainian special police battalion consisting of volunteers from Kyiv. The unit was formed in June 2014 by volunteers from the far-right party Svoboda at the start of the war in Donbas.
Territorial defence battalions were volunteer military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine under the auspices of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence in 2014–2015. They should not be confused with the volunteer units of Special Tasks Patrol Police of Ukraine created along with territorial defense battalions, but under the auspices of the Ministry of Interior. Together, they are both collectively known as the Ukrainian volunteer battalions. The battalions were established in mid-2014, during the early stages of the war in Donbas, to combat the pro-Russian separatists and the forces of the Donetsk People's Republic, Luhansk People's Republic, and the United Armed Forces of Novorossiya. 32 volunteer territorial defence battalions were formed.
The Sparta Battalion or 80th Separate Guards Reconnaissance Battalion "Sparta" named after A. S. Pavlov is a special purpose unit of the Russian Armed Forces. Until 2023, unit was part of Russian people's militia military unit of the Russian republic of Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine. The unit has been fighting against the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Donbas war and the 2022 Russian invasion. Formed in 2014, it was initially led by the Russian-born Arsen Pavlov until his death in October 2016, and then by Vladimir Zhoga, from Sloviansk, until his death in March 2022.
The Statue of Lenin in Kharkiv was a sculpture monument to Vladimir Lenin, located in Freedom Square, Kharkiv, Ukraine, that was toppled and demolished in 2014. It was the largest monument to Lenin in Ukraine, designed by Alexander Sidorenko after entering an open competition to design the monument in 1963, in the lead up to the anniversary of the October Revolution.
Special Group "Alpha" is an elite Ukrainian special forces branch of the Security Service of Ukraine; and a successor of the Soviet Union's Alpha Group. Group Alpha is one of the top divisions of the special forces of Ukraine.
Vadym Anatoliyovych Troyan is a former Ukrainian government official and military leader. He was the chief of police for the Kyiv Oblast from 2014 to 2021. He was formerly the deputy commander of the Azov Battalion with the rank of colonel.
Operational Command East is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces in eastern Ukraine. Its headquarters is currently located in Dnipro.
The Special Police Forces is a Ukrainian volunteer corps of law enforcement units, part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. It was originally created for prevention of criminal encroachment and defence of civil order on 15 April 2014, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. During the ongoing war in Donbas, the forces of the Special Tasks Patrol Police have fought against pro-Russian separatists as a paramilitary force.
The Territorial Defence Forces are the military reserve component of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Russo-Ukrainian War:
Ukraine 
