The Chernivtsi Border Detachment "Major-General Oleksandr Pylkevich" (2195) is a

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

level detachment of the Western Regional Department of the

State Border Service of Ukraine 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 Pres ...

. The detachment guards the Ukraine-Moldova border and the Ukraine-Romania border in three Raions (

Vyzhnytsia Raion Vyzhnytsia Raion () is an administrative raion (district) in the southern part of Chernivtsi Oblast, located in the historical region of Bukovina, in western Ukraine, on the Romanian border. The region has an area of and centers on the city of Vy ...

Chernivtsi Raion Chernivtsi Raion () is a raion (district) of Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine. It was created on 18 July 2020 as part of the reform of administrative divisions of Ukraine. Most of its territory is located in the historical region of Bukovina, while the ...

and

Dnistrovskyi Raion Dnistrovskyi Raion () is a raion (district) of Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine. It was created on 18 July 2020 as part of the reform of administrative divisions of Ukraine. It is part of the historical region of Bessarabia. The center of the raion is t ...

) of

Chernivtsi Oblast Chernivtsi Oblast (), also referred to as Chernivechchyna (), is an oblast (province) in western Ukraine, consisting of the northern parts of the historical regions of Bukovina and Bessarabia. It has an international border with Romania and Moldo ...

, one Raion (

Verkhovyna Raion Verkhovyna Raion () is a raion (district) of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (Oblast, region). The Populated places in Ukraine#Rural settlements, rural settlement of Verkhovyna is the administrative center of the raion. The raion was reinstated in 1966 (in ...

) of the

Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (), also referred to as Ivano-Frankivshchyna () or simply Frankivshchyna, is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (region) in western Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Ivano-Frankivsk. It has a pop ...

as well as guarding the Ivano-Frankivsk Airport and

Chernivtsi International Airport Chernivtsi Leonid Kadeniuk International Airport () is an airport in the city of Chernivtsi in western Ukraine. History Early history First scheduled flights in Chernivtsi commenced in 1928, on the route Bucharest – Iași – Cernăuți (a ...

. The total border guarded by the detachment is 404.7km of which Ukrainian-Romanian section is 234.7km and the Ukrainian-Moldovan section is 170km.

History

It was established in 1992 to Ukraine-Romania border and Ukraine-Moldova border in

. Since 2008, the border detachment has been staffed exclusively by contract servicemen. On 12 August 2014, the Chernivtsi border detachment celebrated its 70th anniversary. On 22 June 2016, for the first time in 8 years, more than a hundred conscripts joined the detachment. On 22 August 2018, the Chernivtsi border detachment was awarded the honorary name of "Colonel-General Oleksandr Pylkevich", commander of the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

's Border Corps. In March 2021, it prevented a smuggling attempt of 6,400 cigarettes into Romania. In May 2021, the detachment again foiled the smuggling attempt of 4,400 more cigarettes. In January 2023, a guardsman of the detachment (Khomandyak Roman) was killed while fighting on the frontlines. In May 2023, the Chernivtsi Detachment along with Dozor detachment detained three people trying to illegally cross the border along with their smuggler and two vehicles used by them were seized. In early August 2023, 41 persons attempting illegal border crossing attempts were detained by the detachment. On 14 October 2023, a guardsman of the detachment (Oleksandr Reshetnyk) was killed in action against Russian forces. In November 2023, a guardsman of the detachment (Grubo Roman) was killed while fighting in the frontlines. On 4 December 2023, the detachment with assistance from other units captured a trafficking vehicle and detained the traffickers after a short chase near the border. In early 2024, two checkpoints of the detachment were blocked by Romanian farmers. On 10 January 2024, the detachment detained eight people illegally trying to cross the border into

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

. In March 2024, a foreign vehicle smuggling 400 cigarettes was seized by the detachment. On 29 June 2024, two people armed with machetes and a gas canister attacked the detachment's personnel who responded by firing back killing one of the attackers and wounding the second.

Structure

The Chernivtsi border detachment is composed of: Чернівецький прикордонний загін
* Management and Headquarters * Border Service Department "Porubne" * Border Service Department "Shibene" * Border Service Department "Sokyryani" * Border Service Department "Krasnoilsk" * Border Service Department "Falkiv" * Border Service Department "Cherepkivka" * Border Service Department "Kelmentsi" * Border Service Department "Hertsa" * Border Service Department "Selyatyn" * Border Service Department "Vashkivtsi" * Border Service Department "Mamalyga" * Border Service Department " Ivano-Frankivsk Airport" * Border Service Inspection Division "Perkalab" * Border Service Inspection Division "Shepit" * Border Service Inspection Division "Selyatyn" * Border Service Inspection Division "Falkiv" * Border Service Inspection Division "Krasnoilsk", "Nizhny Petrivtsi" * Border Service Inspection Division "Bila Krynytsia", "Cherepkivka" * Border Service Inspection Division "Porubne" * Border Service Inspection Division "Kulikivka" * Border Service Inspection Division "Mamalyga" * Border Service Inspection Division "Hertsa" * Border Service Inspection Division "Tarasivtsi" * Border Service Inspection Division "Podvirne" * Border Service Inspection Division "Kelmentsi" * Border Service Inspection Division "Podvryivka" * Border Service Inspection Division "Sokyryani" * Border Service Inspection Division "Vashkivtsi" * Border Service Inspection Division "Hvozdivtsi" * Border Service Inspection Division "Chernivtsi" * Border Service Inspection Division "Ivano-Frankivsk" * Mobile Border Outpost "Chernivtsi" * Guardian units It controls operations of 21 checkpoints including 12 international checkpoints: * Automotive: 12 * Railway:4 * Air travel: 3 * Pedestrian: 2

Commanders

* Colonel Petro Ivanovich Lutskyi (-1992) * Major General Bidakh Volodymyr Prokopovich (1992-1998) * Colonel Mykola Mykolayovych Gursky (1998-2000) * Colonel Vasyl Vasylovich Chubyuk (2000-2004) * Colonel Serhii Hryhorovych Stukalo (2004-2008) * Colonel Mykola Oleksiiovych Matsyshin (2008-2009) * Colonel Zhovtonozhuk Ihor Petrovych (2009-2011) * Colonel Oleksandr Ivanovich Kruk (February-September 2011) * Colonel Andrii Andriyovych Bura (2011-2013) * Colonel Mykhailo Borisovych Kotov (2013-2014) * Colonel Viktor Ivanovich Yavtushenko (2014-2015) * Colonel Ihor Mykolayovych Mosiichuk (February-July 2015) * Colonel Volodymyr Ivanovich Vorobets (July-November 2015) * Colonel Pavlo Petrovych Lysak (2015-2017) * Colonel Vovk Oleg Omelyanovych (2017-2019) * Colonel Martsinkevich Serhiy Vasyliovych (2019-2021) * Colonel Romanchuk M.S. (2021-?) * Colonel Yevgeny Babych (?-)

Sources

Чернівецький прикордонний загінДержавної прикордонної служби України

References

{{Border Guard of Ukraine State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Military units and formations of Ukraine in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Military units and formations established in 1992 Brigades of Ukraine