The Territorial Directorate "North" was created on the basis of Northern Territorial Operational Command by the directive №322/1/010 of the Minister of Defence of Ukraine on 20 May 2005.The previous Northern Operational Command was created in 1996 and based on the 1st Army Corps that continued the traditions of the 1st Guard Red-Banner Army. It encompassed six oblasts: Poltava, Sumy, Kiev, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv, and Cherkasy.