State Border Guard Service of Ukraine

The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (abbr. SBGSU; Ukrainian: Державна Прикордонна Служба України, romanized:Derzhavna Prykordonna Sluzhba Ukrainy, pronounced [derˈʒɑu̯nɐprɪkorˈdɔnːɐˈsluʒbɐʊkrɐˈjinɪ]; abbr. ДПСУ, DPSU) is the border guard of Ukraine. It is an independent law enforcement agency, organized by the Constitution of Ukraine as a military formation, the head of which is subordinated to the President of Ukraine.

The Service was created on July 31, 2003, after the reorganization of the State Committee for Protection of the State Border. During wartime, units of the State Border Guard Service fall under the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The State Border Guard Service includes the Ukrainian Sea Guard, which is the country's coast guard. It is also responsible for running Temporary Detention Centres, in which refugees are held.

History

Ukrainian border guards are the national successors of the Soviet Border Troops. They were formed from the approximately 17,000 Border Troops located in Ukraine in 1991. The organization was first titled the "Ukrainian Border Troops", which was later subordinated to the "Ukraine's State Committee for State Border Guarding".

From 1991 to at least 1993, the new borders with Russia and Belarus were not guarded; the Border Troops were only deployed along the western borders (minus Moldova) and on the Black Sea. Another 9,000 personnel were added to the Border Troops at the expense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and, by the end of 1993, border posts were established in the north along the Russian and Belarusian borders. In 1999, the authorized strength of the force was again increased to 50,000.

In 2003, new legislation was adopted, and this somewhat changed the legal status of the institution. In March 2003, the Border Troops became the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, and its status was legally changed from 'military formation' to 'special law-enforcement body.' The force was legally granted 50,000 personnel, including 8,000 civilian employees.

On 4 July 2012, a State Border Guard Service Diamond DA42 aircraft failed to make its scheduled radio contact with ground units. A Search and rescue mission revealed that the plane had crashed into a wooded mountainous area in Velykyi Bereznyi Raion, killing all 3 crew members on board. A further investigation was launched.

During The War in Donbas on August 31, 2014, two Sea Guard Zhuk class patrol boats were struck by land-based artillery. In June 2, a border base in the outskirts of Luhansk was besieged by a troop of Luhansk People's Republic separatists. The Siege of the Luhansk Border Base resulted in 10 wounded Border Guards until they surrendered and withdrew.

In 2022, during the Battle of Snake Island 13 border troops were attacked and captured by Russian warships. A unit of border guards was stationed in Mariupol and fought during the Siege of Mariupol. In 20 April, the border guards were stranded in an encircled pocket at the Mariupol sea port together with National Police of Ukraine, until they were rescued by the Azov Regiment and retreated into the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works.

On 30 April 2024, Andriy Demchenko, spokesperson of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, said in an interview that 30 Ukrainians have died trying to leave since February 2024 when conscription was introduced. Since the implementation of martial law some 450 criminal gangs have been formed specialising in people smuggling.

In April 2024, was announced the creation of the third combat brigade in the State Border Guard Service. The brigade was named Hart and Colonel Volodymyr Chervonenko became its commander.

Involvement in abuse and murders of Ukrainian men fleeing the country

During the Russia-Ukraine war and war-related country exit ban for males, the service’s main occupation essentially became hunting down conscription age men seeking to leave Ukraine through clandestine routes. Based on abundant evidence, captured individuals are being routinely beaten and tortured with several cases of shootings of fugitives to death also being reported and verified.

Structure

State Border Guard Service of Ukraine is a special enforcement branch tasked with the protection of Ukrainian state border on land, sea or any other inland water obstacle. During wartime, the Border Guards units fall under the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They were the first Ukrainian units to counter Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.

Mobile response units

• Dozor Detachment
• Pomsta Brigade (former Luhansk Detachment)
• Phoenix Regiment
• Stalevy Kordon Infantry Brigade
• Hart Brigade (former Donetsk Detachment)
• Forpost Brigade (former Kramatorsk Detachment)

Border detachments

• Berdyansk Detachment
• Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Detachment
• Chernihiv Detachment
• Chernivtsi Detachment
• Chop Detachment
• Izmail Detachment
• Kharkiv Detachment
• Kherson Detachment
• Lutsk Detachment
• Lviv Detachment
• Mohyliv-Podilskyi Detachment
• Mukachevo Detachment
• Odesa Detachment
• Podilsk Detachment
• Shostka Detachment
• Sumy Detachment
• Zhytomyr Detachment

Maritime Security

• Izmail Sea Guard Unit
• Mariupol Sea Guard Unit
• Odesa Sea Guard Unit

Aviation

• Lviv Aviation Squadron
• Kharkiv Aviation Squadron
• Odesa Aviation Squadron

Volunteer Units

• Cossack Regiment Shevchenko
• Special Purpose Battalion Sever

Commanders

Directors (commanders) of the Border Guard Service (border troops):

• 1991–1994: Valeriy Hubenko
• 1994–1999: Viktor Bannykh
• 1999–2001: Borys Oleksiyenko
• 2001–2014: Mykola Lytvyn
• 2014–2017: Viktor Nazarenko
• 2017–2019: Petro Tsyhykal
• 2019–2026: Serhii Deineko
• 2026–present: Valeriy Vavrynyuk

Military ranks

Uniform

• Patch
• Cockade
• Officers cocarde
• Privates cocarde

Long service medal

• 25 years in service
• 20 years in service
• 15 years in service
• 10 years in service

Equipment

Gallery

• Ukrainian Border Guards in a parade, 2018
• KrAZ Cobra of the Border Guard
• K-9 service dog and his handler
• Border guard with Barrett M82 sniper rifle during the Russo-Ukrainian war
• Ukrainian border guard checks documents at the border with Hungary
• Ukrainian border guard field operatives patrolling the border with Moldova
• Stenka-class patrol boat BG57 Mykolaiv of the Ukrainian Sea Guard
• Border control post at the Poland–Ukraine border

See also

• Border control
• State Border of Ukraine
• Security Service of Ukraine
• List of national border guard agencies
• Law enforcement in Ukraine

External links