The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine ( SBGSU; , ; ) 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.Leonid Polyakov, 'Paramilitary Structures in Ukraine,' Almanac on Security Sector Governance in Ukraine 2010, p. 143-144, Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces. 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 Guard Service has been responsible for enforcing this ban by policing the border for conscription age men seeking to leave Ukraine through clandestine routes. There have been reports of captured individuals being beaten and tortured with several cases of shootings of fugitives to death also being reported, leading to the arrest of the guards responsible by the State Bureau of Investigation (Ukraine).
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 LytvynPresident appoints Nazarenko as new border chief, Interfax-Ukraine (23 October 2014) 2014–2017: Viktor NazarenkoPoroshenko appoints Head of Operations Department Tsyhykal as State Border Service chief, Interfax-Ukraine (25 July 2017) 2017–2019: Petro Tsyhykal 2019–2026: Serhii DeinekoZelensky appoints new chief border guard, UNIAN (14 June 2019) 2026–present: Valeriy Vavrynyuk
Military ranks
Uniform
Long service medal
Equipment ModelImageOriginVariantNumberDetails Anti-tankStugna-PNLAWSeveral hundredUsed by the Luhansk border guards.SPG-9SPG-9MATGL-HBulgarian made rifles are also used. Artillery DITA First shown by the SBGS in January 2025 BS-3 Reactivated after the 2022 Russian invasion. RAK-12 RAK-SA-12 ZU-23-2 ZU-23-2CPUsed on static positions or mounted on trucks. Armoured personnel carrierBM Triton63Only two examples delivered before the 2022 invasion.Roshel SenatorUsed by the Chernihiv border guards.M11350Purchased by the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy and energy sector companies. MRAP Kozak Kozak-2 17 KrAZ Cougar 3+ Alvis 4 7 Donated by Estonia. Logistics and utility vehiclesUral-4320Medium truckZiL-131Medium truckGAZ-66Medium truck (2 tonnes)KamAZ-5320Heavy truck (8 tonnes)KamAZ-4310Heavy truck (6 tonnes)KAMAZ-43114Heavy truck (6 tonnes)Purchased prior to the Russo-Ukrainian war.KrAZ-257Heavy truck (12 tonnes)KrAZ-255BHeavy truck (12 tonnes)KrAZ-260Heavy truckKrAZ-6322 Heavy truckKrAZ-6510Dump truckKrAZ-5233Heavy truck (6 tonnes)IVECO TrakkerDump truckDonated by Germany.Mercedes Benz UnimogTruckDonated by Germany. UAZ-3163 Off-road vehicle Land Rover Defender Off-road vehicle 55 Volkswagen Amarok Off-road vehicle 20«ЗакарпатевроТранс II» переоборудовал авто на спецзаказ от Госпогранслужбы Toyota Land Cruiser 200 Off-road vehicle 20 Dacia Duster Off-road vehicle 10 UAZ-3303 Off-road vehicle Mitsubishi L200 Off-road vehicle 40 Donated by the US in 2021. UAZ-3962 Volkswagen Transporter Bus 10 Ford Transit Bus 10 Bogdan A092 Bus ЛАЗ-695 Bus Rosenbauer Panther Airport crash tender 2 Donated by Germany.Other vehicles Bombardier Outlander 400 MAX 100В Государственной пограничной службе Украины подвели годовые итоги и определили основные направления деятельности в 2013 году Polaris 600 IQ Touring 50Caterpillar 336-081Donated by Germany. AircraftAntonov An-8 Used by the Sea Guard.Antonov An-24 Used by the Sea Guard.Antonov An-26 Used by the Sea Guard.Antonov An-72 Used by the Sea Guard.
Gallery
See also Border control State Border of Ukraine Security Service of Ukraine List of national border guard agencies Law enforcement in Ukraine
References
External links
Official website Agency's history page on official website