State Border Guard Service of Ukraine

State Border Guard Service
Державна прикордонна служба
State Border Guard Service; Державна прикордонна служба
	Service emblem
	Service flag
Abbreviation	SBGS / ДПСУ
Agency overview
Formed	July 31, 2003
Preceding agency	State Committee for Protection of the State Border of Ukraine;
Employees	~ 60 000 (2022)
Jurisdictional structure
National agency	Ukraine
Operations jurisdiction	Ukraine
General nature	Gendarmerie;
Specialist jurisdiction	National border patrol, security, and integrity.;
Operational structure
Headquarters	26, Volodymyrska st, Kyiv
Agency executive	Serhiy Deyneko, Head of the SBGS;
Parent agency	Ministry of Internal Affairs
Child agency	Ukrainian Sea Guard;
Notables
Significant operations	Siege of the Luhansk Border Base; Attack on Snake Island;
Website
	dpsu.gov.ua

The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGS; Ukrainian: Державна Прикордонна Служба України, Derzhavna Prykordonna Sluzhba Ukrainy; 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.

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
Stalevy Kordon (Steel Border) Infantry Brigade

Border detachments

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

Maritime Security

Izmail Maritime Guards
Mariupol Maritime Guards
Odesa Maritime Guards

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–present: Serhiy Deyneko

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

Model	Image	Origin	Variant	Number	Details
Anti-tank
Stugna-P		Ukraine
NLAW		Sweden United Kingdom		Several hundred	Used by the Luhansk border guards.
SPG-9		Soviet Union Bulgaria	SPG-9M ATGL-H		Bulgarian made rifles are also used.
Artillery
BS-3		Soviet Union			Reactivated after the 2022 Russian invasion.
RAK-12		Croatia	RAK-SA-12
ZU-23-2		Soviet Union Poland	ZU-23-2CP		Used on static positions or mounted on trucks.
Armoured personnel carrier
BM Triton		Ukraine		63
Roshel Senator		Canada			Used by the Chernihiv border guards.
M113		United States		50	Purchased by the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy and energy sector companies.
MRAP
Kozak		Ukraine	Kozak-2	17
KRAZ Cougar		Canada Ukraine		3+
Vehicles
Ural-4320		Soviet Union	Medium truck
ZiL-131			Medium truck
GAZ-66			Medium truck (2 tonnes)
KamAZ-5320			Heavy truck (8 tonnes)
KamAZ-4310			Heavy truck (6 tonnes)
KAMAZ-43114		Russia	Heavy truck (6 tonnes)		Purchased prior to the Russo-Ukrainian war.
KrAZ-257		Soviet Union	Heavy truck (12 tonnes)
KrAZ-255B			Heavy truck (12 tonnes)
KrAZ-260			Heavy truck
KrAZ-6322		Ukraine	Heavy truck
KrAZ-6510			Dump truck
KrAZ-5233			Heavy truck (6 tonnes)
IVECO Trakker		Italy	Dump truck		Donated by Germany.
Mercedes Benz Unimog		Germany	Truck		Donated by Germany.
UAZ-3163		Russia	Off-road vehicle
Land Rover Defender		UK	Off-road vehicle	55
Volkswagen Amarok		Germany	Off-road vehicle	20
Toyota Land Cruiser 200		Japan	Off-road vehicle	20
Dacia Duster		France Romania	Off-road vehicle	10
UAZ-3303		Russia	Off-road vehicle
Mitsubishi L200		Japan	Off-road vehicle	40	Donated by the US in 2021.
UAZ-3962		Russia
Volkswagen Transporter		Germany	Bus	10
Ford Transit		USA	Bus	10
Bogdan A092		Ukraine	Bus
ЛАЗ-695		Soviet Union	Bus
Rosenbauer Panther		Austria	Airport crash tender	2	Donated by Germany.
Other vehicles
	Bombardier Outlander 400 MAX	Canada		100
	Polaris 600 IQ Touring	Canada		50
	Minsk (motorcycle)	Belarus		183
Caterpillar 336-08		United States	Excavator	1	Donated by Germany.
Aircraft
	Diamond DA40	Austria	TDI	5
	Diamond DA42	Austria	M-NG	4
	Antonov An-24	Soviet Union	RV	1
	Airbus H125	France		7	In total 24 helicopters to be received.
	Antonov An-26	Soviet Union		1
	Mil Mi-8	Soviet Union	T/MT/MTV	5