The National Police of Ukraine (, ; /NPU ), often simply referred to as the (), is the national, and only, police service of Ukraine. It was formed on 3 July 2015, as part of the post-Euromaidan reforms launched by Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, to replace Ukraine's previous national police service, the Militsiya. On 7 November 2015, all the remaining militsiya were labelled "temporary acting" members of the National Police.
The agency is overseen by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.National Police established in Ukraine, Interfax Ukraine (2 September 2015)
History Prior to 3 July 2015, law enforcement in Ukraine was carried out directly by the Ministry of Internal Affairs as the militsiya. Plans to reform the ministry, which was widely known to be corrupt, had been advocated by various governments and parties, but these plans were never realised.
In the aftermath of the 2013–2014 Euromaidan movement and subsequent revolution, the need for reform was acknowledged by all parties. Parliamentary elections were held in October 2014, after which all five of the parties that formed the governing coalition pledged to reform the ministry and create a new national police service.
As part of the reforms, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Arsen Avakov, presented plans to reduce the number of police officers in Ukraine to 160,000 by the end of 2015. The reform plans started with the combination of the ministry's current State Auto Inspection (DAI) and the patrol service in the country's capital Kyiv in summer 2015. This new police patrol received funding from various countries. 2,000 new policemen and women, picked from 33,000 applicants, were recruited to initiate the new service in Kyiv. Officers were trained in the North American style by police officers from the United States and Canada.
Upon the launch of Kyiv's new patrol police on 4 July 2015, the militsiya ceased all patrolling but continued working at precincts and administrative offices. After that the new police patrol was rolled out across Ukraine. The organisation was formally established as the National Police on 2 September 2015. By late September 2015, 2,000 new constables were on duty in Kyiv, 800 were on duty in Kharkiv and 1,700 were on duty in the cities of Odesa and Lviv. At this point, the militsiya was 152,000 officers strong, and continued to handle most policing across Ukraine. The basic salary of the new police force (almost $400 a month) is about three times as much the basic salary of the former militsiya; an attempt to decrease corruption.
The new National Police officially replaced the old militsiya on 7 November 2015. On that day, the remaining militsiya were labelled "temporarily acting" members of the National Police. The change allowed for them to become members of the National Police after "integrity checks", but they were only eligible if they met the age criteria and went through retraining. This transition period ended on 20 October 2016. In this transition period 26% of police commanders were dismissed and 4,400 policemen and policewomen demoted and the same number of people promoted.
Ukrayinska Pravda collected (from open sources) 64 crimes allegedly committed by Ukrainian police officers from 1 January 2020 until 30 May 2020. Cases ranged from extortion to rape to killings. Who to call when the police kill? Chronicle of tortures, murders and beatings of law enforcement officers, Ukrayinska Pravda (5 June 2020)
The NPU was assisted by the EU Advisory Mission Ukraine between 2017 and 2022 through the PRAVO Police Programme, implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), in an effort to modernize Ukrainian law enforcement to European standards.
On 14 February 2022, the National Police was transferred to combat alert, as a response to the Russian military buildup and threat of the invasion. The National Police and its tactical unit Rapid Operational Response Unit directly participated in hostilities against the invading Russian Armed Forces at the Kyiv offensive. As the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine progressed, the National Police helped in the war effort by maintaining law and order in Ukrainian-controlled areas, escorting prisoners, operating checkpoints, capturing infiltrators and detaining prisoners of war. By 1 March, 17 policemen were killed, 50 injured and 2 missing in action.
In February 2023, the MIA ordered the raising of 8 new assault brigades to support the Ukrainian war effort, one of those new brigades, the Liut Brigade, is the only one so far made up of officers, NCOs and constables of the NPU's Special Police. In 2024, three additional brigades were added as directly reporting under NPU Headquarters.
Terminology According to Professor Oleksandr Ponomariv of the Kyiv University's Institute of Journalism, the correct Ukrainian language term for a police officer is 'politsiyant' (). This is in contrast to the term 'politseysky' (), a loan word from the Russian language, commonly used to refer to an officer of the National Police.
Ranks are rarely used by the public when addressing police officers in Ukraine; it is more common to hear the term Pan () (female - Pani () - Ukrainian for mister/miss - used to refer to police officers. Qualifying terms such as 'ofitser' () or 'politseiskyi' () may also be used in conjunction with these forms of address.
Structure and branches The National Police is divided into a number of different services. Each force has internal subdivisions. This leaves the police service with a large number of specialised branches which can more specifically target certain types of crime and apply more expert knowledge in the investigation of cases relating to their area of policing. In addition to these specific groups, all police forces retain a majority of officers for the purpose of patrol duty and general law enforcement.
The police contains the following subdivisions:National Police structure. Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ukraine). 18 March 2016 Criminal Police () – investigation and prevention of serious and violent crime in Ukraine Department in the fight against drug-related crime Department of Cyber Police () – fighting against cyber crimes Department of Economic Security Department of Patrol Police () – general law enforcement operations, traffic policing and patrol duty (includes riot police divisions) number of municipal administrations Department of Police Security () – Successor to the State Security Service (nothing to do with the State Security Administration)
In addition, the following special units exist: Special Police () – Tasked with keeping order in areas with special status and/or affected by natural or ecological disaster. Rapid Operational Response Unit (KORD) () – Tactical response unit, tasked with resolution of stand-off situations involving hostages and/or heavily armed suspects. Also tasked with providing a tactical support function to other divisional officers. Pre-trial Investigative Services () – Representatives of the National Investigative Bureau, Tax Authorities and Security Services, tasked with investigating crime.
Shoulder patches of the regional police subdivisions
Territorial force Date of formation Oblast / Municipality Police force City of Kyiv Kyiv Patrol Police 4 July 2015 City of Lviv Lviv Patrol Police 23 August 2015 City of Odesa Odesa Patrol Police 25 August 2015 City of Kharkiv Kharkiv Patrol Police 26 September 2015High hopes in Kharkiv as new police patrol officers sworn in, Ukraine Today (26 September 2015) Kyiv Oblast Kyiv Oblast Patrol Police 7 October 2015 City of Uzhhorod Uzhhorod Patrol Police 29 November 2015 City of Mukacheve Mukacheve Patrol Police 29 November 2015 City of Mykolaiv Mykolaiv Patrol Police 6 December 2015 City of Lutsk Lutsk Patrol Police 19 December 2015 City of Khmelnytskyi Khmelnytskyi Patrol Police 26 December 2015 City of Dnipro Dnipro Patrol Police 17 January 2016 City of Ivano-Frankivsk Ivano-Frankivsk Patrol Police 30 January 2016 City of Kherson Kherson Patrol Police 8 February 2016 City of Chernihiv Chernihiv Patrol Police 19 February 2016 City of Vinnytsia Vinnytsia Patrol Police 22 February 2016 City of Kremenchuk Kremenchuk Patrol Police 27 February 2016 City of Cherkasy Cherkasy Patrol Police 1 March 2016 City of Poltava Poltava Patrol Police 5 March 2016 City of Ternopil Ternopil Patrol Police 12 March 2016 City of Zhytomyr Zhytomyr Patrol Police 22 March 2016 City of Boryspil Boryspil Patrol Police 24 March 2016 City of Chernivtsi Chernivtsi Patrol Police 27 March 2016 City of Zaporizhia Zaporizhia Patrol Police 16 April 2016 City of Rivne Rivne Patrol Police 19 April 2016 City of Kropyvnytskyi Kropyvnytskyi Patrol Police 28 April 2016 City of Sumy Sumy Patrol Police 12 May 2016 City of Kramatorsk Kramatorsk Patrol Police 14 May 2016 City of Sloviansk Sloviansk Patrol Police 14 May 2016 City of Kryvyi Rih Kryvyi Rih Patrol Police 19 May 2016 Sievierodonetsk Sievierodonetsk Patrol Police 22 May 2016 Lysychansk Lysychansk Patrol Police 22 May 2016 Rubizhne Rubizhne Patrol Police 22 May 2016 Mariupol Mariupol Patrol Police 30 May 2016
Rank hierarchy Officers Staff officers Supervisory officers Senior officers National Police of Ukraine General 1st rank General 2nd rank General 3rd rank Colonel Lieutenant colonel Major Kapitan Senior lieutenant Lieutenant Junior lieutenant
Junior officers Junior officers National Police of Ukraine Senior sergeant Sergeant Corporal Private
Equipment Officers wear a camera that is constantly monitoring their performances. The resulting videos are posted on social media and broadcast on a reality TV show.
Vehicles Land vehicles Picture Make and model Country of origin Use Quantity NotesAtaman D093SUkrainePolice busChery Tiggo 2ChinaPatrol carChevrolet CobaltUzbekistanPatrol carChevrolet NivaRussiaPatrol carFiat TipoTurkeyPatrol car20Bought for Kyiv security policeHyundai ElantraSouth KoreaDriver's educationHyundai SonataSouth KoreaPatrol car 110Highway patrol car.Former taxis operated under the SkyTaxi brand by Kyiv's Boryspil International Airport. Owned by the state and transferred to the police as surplus to SkyTaxi's requirements.Hyundai TucsonSouth KoreaPatrol carIsuzu D-MaxJapanPatrol car 38Procured for the police in the Western Ukrainian region of Volyn.Lada NivaRussiaPatrol car 9 Were bought by Poltava Police in 2016.Mazda CX-5JapanPatrol carMitsubishi L200JapanCriminalist labMitsubishi OutlanderJapanPatrol car 635Were bought by in 2017.Peugeot 301FrancePatrol carRaketa-Futong FT 150ChinaUkrainePolice motorcycle Renault DokkerMoroccoPolice van 192Badged as Renault and based on the Dacia Dokker. Assembled in Morocco.Renault DusterRomaniaPatrol car 140+Badged as Renault and based on the Dacia Duster. Assembled in Romania.Renault KangooFrancePolice vanRenault MéganeFrancePatrol carRenault TraficFrancePolice vanŠkoda OctaviaCzech RepublicUkrainePatrol car Škoda KodiaqCzech RepublicUkrainePatrol carŠkoda KodiaqCzech RepublicUkraineUnmarked patrol car Phantom patrolŠkoda RapidCzech RepublicUkrainePatrol car400 First cars delivered in 2018. Assembled in Ukraine.Suzuki SV650JapanPolice motorcycleTesla Model YUnited StatesPatrol carToyota CorollaJapanPatrol carToyota HiluxJapanCriminalist labToyota Land CruiserJapanPatrol carToyota PriusJapanPatrol car 1,568General purpose patrol car.Supplied by Japan in return for Ukrainian emissions permits under the Kyoto Protocol.UAZ PatriotRussiaPatrol car >20Were bought before 2014 by former Ukrainian MilitsyaVolkswagen AmarokGermanyPatrol car25+Used by frontline units to evacuate civilians, delivering humanitarian aid, and for demining operations during wartimeVolkswagen CrafterGermanyPolice vanVolkswagen JettaGermanyPatrol carbought in 2019Volkswagen PoloGermanyPatrol carVolkswagen TiguanGermanyPatrol carVolkswagen TransporterGermanyPolice vanZAZ ForzaChinaUkrainePatrol carZAZ VidaSouth KoreaUkrainePatrol car
Aircraft