Eight brigades of the Offensive Guard have been fully formed. They will undergo training for two to three weeks and will come under the command of the Defence Forces after they are assigned a combat mission, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko has said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
"The brigades have been fully formed. These are eight brigades. We have plans to form additional brigades, as there is demand for this and we have the capacity... We are rearming the brigades that have already been formed, they will undergo appropriate training - it will take 2-3 weeks - and in parallel we are starting to form additional units," Klymenko said.
According to him, each brigade will be tasked to carry out assault operations together with the Defence Forces.
"The success of the operation in a particular direction will depend on each brigade, each unit, each soldier and police officer," the minister stressed.
He did not specify the total number of brigades, given the security concerns, but noted that this figure could be calculated theoretically.
Answering the question of whether the Offensive Guard brigades are already under the command of the Defence Forces, the minister said: "No, they will come under the command of the Defence Forces after they are assigned a combat mission."