The completion of the territorial defense units in Ukraine according to the peacetime state will probably be completed by the end of February, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said.

"Today, a 70% managerial core has been formed along all border regions in peacetime, which allows to perform tasks. By the end of February, we plan to complete the formation [of units] of all regions with a peacetime staff at the level of 10,000 [military personnel]," Reznikov said at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.

He clarified that at the moment the first stage of the formation of territorial defense units (according to the peacetime state) is continuing, within which it is planned to recruit 10,000 professional servicemen, who will become the headquarters command and management core of the Defense Forces.

"These are not voluntary squads, they are not some kind of voluntary formations of local self-government bodies. This is not an amateur activity. These are the Armed Forces of Ukraine," Reznikov stressed.

The head of the Ministry of Defense noted that the deployment of territorial defense units can occur only under the condition of "absolutely accurate interaction" with local self-government bodies, local state administrations of the district, regional and city levels.

"To date, they have been sent requests and needs for the formation of the material and technical base [units of the territorial defense forces]. These are premises, fuel, transport, and some assistance, in particular, in clothing. With my signature, they were sent to the heads of the Regional State Administrations, the head of the Kyiv City State Administration. We are waiting for their response, support, possibly appeals to sessions, to representative bodies: City Councils, Regional Councils, with a request for the opportunity to support us," Reznikov stressed.

According to the minister, at the moment the main task is the formation of 176 military units of the territorial defense units, as well as brigades and battalions of 130,000 reservists.

The next stage he called the possible creation of volunteer formations of territorial defense forces in small settlements.

"Settlements where there is no need to create a battalion or a brigade from among local residents-hunters who have a permit for hunting weapons, who understand the terrain, have a certificate that they have not been criminally prosecuted, are not registered in a drug dispensary, etc., they can create volunteer formations to ensure the fulfillment of tasks in this location," the minister said.

However, he clarified that the decision on the formation of such units would be made by Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny.