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 [derˈʒɑu̯nɐ prɪkorˈdɔnːɐ ˈsluʒbɐ ʊkrɐˈjinɪ]; 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.

State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Державна прикордонна служба України
Service emblem
Service flag
Abbreviation	SBGSU / 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	Serhii Deineko, Head of the SBGSU
Parent agency	Ministry of Internal Affairs
Child agency	Ukrainian Sea Guard
Notables
Significant operations	2003 Tuzla Island conflict Siege of the Luhansk Border Base Snake Island campaign
Website
dpsu.gov.ua

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–present: Serhii Deineko

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	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
DITA	Czech Republic			First shown by the SBGS in January 2025
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 (uk)	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+
Alvis 4	South Africa United Kingdom		7	Donated by Estonia.
Logistics and utility 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^{[broken anchor]}	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
Caterpillar 336-08	United States		1	Donated by Germany.
Aircraft
Antonov An-8	Soviet Union			Used by the Sea Guard.
Antonov An-24	Soviet Union			Used by the Sea Guard.
Antonov An-26	Soviet Union			Used by the Sea Guard.
Antonov An-72	Soviet Union			Used by the Sea Guard.

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