The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Міністерство оборони України) was established on September 24, 1991, one month after Ukraine's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. The ministry was in charge of reorganizing all Soviet forces on the Ukrainian terrain under its command. This mass was not an army but an immense force grouping, which would take several months to reorganize.Since that time, Ukraine has voluntarily given up all of its nuclear weapons.