Often artists, who want to create their promotional material with usage of the military outfits, are met with the problem of camouflage usage and its research, not to mix up what/whom/how.
And so if such questions had tormented you - this article would be a worthwhile read.
Types of camouflage used by the Ukrainian military
Мм-14 — also known as pixel, is used by the absolute majority in the Ukrainian Armed Forces (with some exceptions).
Xyžak (Khyzhak) — is an official camouflage of the National Guard of Ukraine (and also, with some exceptions).
MultiCam — officially isn't used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, except for some certain brigades: 12th brigade of the NGU "Azov", 3rd Independent Assault Brigade and "Kraken" Regiment (and the history with it is poetically simple —traditions).
Olive - official colour of the uniform of the NGU (Officially NGU uses 3 variants: Olive, Blue and Xyžak/Khyzhak).
Kojot (Coyote) - isn't officially documented anywhere, and is used rather sparsely as a supplement to the main camouflage personally by individual soldiers.
Other camouflages which were used/created for the UAF (Ukrainian Armed Forces)
Dubok: "Oldfags remembered..." was inherited to us from the Soviet Union. Nice image, cheap, synthetic, very flammable fabric - shortly how we can describe this uniform. The old guard of the soviet army/90s/and up to 2014 and a little bit later would remember this camouflage with a stingy tear of "nostalgia" for their cadet years. But on the other hand, this is where formation of the New Ukrainian Army began.
Mawka: A tactical uniform that was developed in 2020 with the slogan ‘not for everyone’, namely for special forces with a focus on professional use. It features technological dyeing methods that prevent glowing in night vision devices, as well as a universal camouflage pattern that is effective in the steppes, forests and hills of Ukraine. Although the uniform contains some specific solutions, its comfort and lightness make it popular even among ordinary infantrymen, especially in summer. The cost of the Mawka is justified by its quality, and its price is not too different from its analogues. Camouflage is actively used by the Special Forces, the GUR and sometimes the Airborne Forces.
Varan: Was created in response to the need of the AFU in new modern unified camouflage in 2014. It partook in tender alongside other camouflages: MM-14, Žaba Poľova (Zhaba Polyova). It won the bet together with MM-14 and currently has equal legal status with the military, even though didn't receive wide adoption.
ATTENTION! Please don’t confuse it with A-TACS FG, which is often used by russians (it is also sometimes confused with the American MultiCam).
Žaba Poľova/Stepova (Zhaba Polyova/Stepova): As aforementioned, also partook in the tender for the new camouflage for the UAF, but lost the tender and haven't found widespread use. Uniform sets you could still find in flea market and internet stores.
Although what the soldier is supposed to wear is all set in stone in the regulatory base, no steps sideways - is only part of the truth. With the order №606, which states that: each service branch has its own set of uniform, however it is allowed to deviate and/or change it depending on the task or mission.
Hence, why you can often see our soldiers in the MM-14 uniform, but some equipment would be in MultiCam, Olive, Kojot/Coyote and etc. Scouts and SOF would have such "classy" colour scheme that even a peacock would be jealous, since these specific people get in the deepest areas behind enemy lines, and such specific job dictates the usage requirements to one or other camouflage pattern.
And we haven't even mentioned the beginning of the war. Exactly in 2014-2017, when Azov was still the Black Corps or the "black men" and ran around in black uniforms. The regular army was either in MM-14 or in Dubok. Volunteers - in whatever they happen to find: in Dubok, in Pixel, in old American UCP, some in the German Flecktarn, and there even was a rather rare Swiss TAZ-83.
Those were the interesting times…
Regulatory base
Sources, mostly in Ukrainian, with which you could dig further into your familiarisation with military uniform adoption and etc:
Про внесення змін до наказу Міні... | від 30.06.2020 № 238
So, to summarise the above...
If you draw a character that partakes in a combat mission, you could let your imagination fly in terms of camouflage and equipment selection, if it is justified by the mission requirements. Choice of equipment depends from each specific situation, but should always look natural and justified.
For promotional materials, propaganda or motivational posters it is important to rely on the official sources and orders since uniform is the face of the army.
A little cry from the heart of the co-author of the article:
“And, please, if you are not in military service, you don’t have any connections to them. Either a civilian, a volunteer, an instructor. Donating, not donating. Doesn’t matter. Under no circumstances, you do not have any right to wear military uniform/patches/chevrons. You want to wear tactical clothes? Okay, wear monotone colours: olive, coyote, black, grey, navy. Because otherwise not only there is a fine for violating this, but you are also putting yourself and others at risk. And if you will get caught in military uniform while drinking, fray, criminal activity, you have a great chance of ruining the image of the entire army. People see uniform? They will judge the whole army. Don't do it. Yes, these are very obvious thing, but it also wouldn't hurt to remind about them every other time. But I hope you all know about it without me already”.
And that's it :)
Glory to Ukraine!
Glory to the Nation!
Drawings and text editing — Linyvets Chan.
Ukrainian text — Panzermensch (ТГ — @boogeyman_Ua).
English translation — Kusyk (Discord — @kooswoos).
— Characters from illustrations: Marička (Marichka(Azov-chan)), Hanna, Katŕa (Katrya(Kraken)), Ahapa, Xrysťa (Khrystya) and Šefika (Shefika).
— A folder with images of camouflage: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HaIgxaFpXYR8CKbRzli-M5JUkbASyayl?usp=sharing
