You're reading: Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces to phase out Soviet weapons in next few years

The Special Operations Forces (SOF) of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are planning to integrate into NATO’s collective security system in the next three or four years, over which period they will abandon Soviet weapons and ammunition, SOF commander Ihor Luniov said.

“The tasks set for the short- and medium-term… We will definitely implement measures on our further integration into the collective security system of the NATO countries. To that end, up next is the certification of subsequent SOF units that we are planning over the next three or four years,” Luniov said at a briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday.

At the same time, when asked if the SOF will have phased out their Soviet weapons and ammunition totally by 2025, he said that this would happen even sooner.