The Kharkiv Border Detachment (9951) 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 Eastern Department of the State Border Service of Ukraine. The detachment guards the Russia-Ukraine border in four raions (

Bohodukhiv Raion Bohodukhiv Raion () is a raion (district) in Kharkiv Oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the town of Bohodukhiv. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, the number of raions of Kharkiv Oblast was ...

Kharkiv Raion Kharkiv Raion () is a raion (district) of Kharkiv Oblast in eastern Ukraine. Its capital (political), administrative center is the city of Kharkiv. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, the number of rai ...

Chuhuiv Raion Chuhuiv Raion () is a raion (district) in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Chuhuiv. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, the number of raions of Kharkiv Oblast was reduce ...

and

Kupiansk Raion Kupiansk Raion () is a raion (district) in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. The administrative center of the raion is the city of Kupiansk. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, the number of raions of Kharkiv Ob ...

) of

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in eastern Ukraine. Kharkiv borders Luhansk Oblast to the east, Donetsk Oblast to the southeast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to the southwest, Poltava Oblast to the w ...

as well as the

Kharkiv International Airport Kharkiv International Airport () is an airport located in Kharkiv, Ukraine. It is the main airfield serving the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city. It is located to the south-east of the city center, in the city's Slobidskyi distric ...

and the

Dnipro International Airport Dnipro International Airport () was an airport serving Dnipro, a city in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is located southeast from the city center. On 24 February 2022, Ukraine closed airspace to civilian flights due to the Russian invasion ...

. The detachment guards border length of 315.5 km, including 7.5 km by water.

History

On 20 October 1992, the Kharkiv Border Detachment was established, commanded by Colonel Ihor Vasyliovych Egorov. It saw combat during the

War in Donbass The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war began in April 2014, when Russian paramilitaries seized several towns. Ukraine's military launched an operation ...

. On 16 July 2014, in a forest plantation near

Stanytsia Luhanska Stanytsia Luhanska (; ) is a Populated places in Ukraine#Rural settlements, rural settlement on the banks of the Donets, Siverskyi Donets River in the Shchastia Raion of Luhansk Oblast in eastern Ukraine. Residence of Stanytsia Luhanska settlem ...

, the personnel of the Kharkiv Detachment encountered a group of saboteurs trying to plant a landmine and two guardsmen of the detachment (Postolny Mykola Mykolayovych and Maxim Oleksandrovich Zakopaylo) were killed in resulting engagement. During the

Prelude to the Russian invasion of Ukraine In March and April 2021, prior to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces began massing thousands of personnel and military equipment near Russia's border with Ukraine and in Crimea, representing the largest mobil ...

, it acquired mortar training. It saw combat during multiple engagements during the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. On the morning of 24 February 2022, at the start of the

, a Russian tank column attacked a small squad of the detachment composed of 15-30 people who had no choice but to fight, and three guardsmen of the detachment (Dmytro Oleksiyovych Prokhorov, Maksym Nezola and Ivan Yakymchuk) were killed during the Battle of Kharkiv. On 11 February 2023, the 4th Kharkiv Border Detachment was awarded the honorary award "

For Courage and Bravery For Courage and Bravery () is an honorary award established by the President of Ukraine to recognize distinguished combat performance, courage, bravery and heroism of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, National Guard of Ukraine, State Border ...

". In April 2024, the detachment took part in the

2024 Kharkiv offensive On 10 May 2024, the Russian Armed Forces began an offensive operation in Ukraine's Kharkiv Oblast, shelling and attempting to breach the defenses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the direction of Vovchansk and Kharkiv. ''The Guardian'' reported ...

and it's SPG units continued to shell Russian positions. On 27 July 2024, the Quick Death unit of the Kharkiv Detachment destroyed a Russian MTLB. On 15 November 2024, the detachment destroyed a Russian ammunition warehouse and two shelters using Baba Yaga drone.

Structure

The structure of the detachment is as follows: * Management and Headquarters * Border Service Department "Kharkiv" * Border Service Department "

" * Border Service Department "Kharkiv-railway" * Border Service Department "Kharkiv-passenger" * Border Service Department "

" * Border Service Department "Dergachi" * Border Service Department "Vesele" * Border Service Department "Vovchansk" * Border Service Department "Kupiansk" * Border Service Department "Timofiivka" * Border Service Department "Topoli" * Border Service Department "Kozacha Lopan" * Border Service Department "Vilkhuvatka" * Border Service Department "Zhovtneve" * Border Service Department "Bily Kolodyaz" * Border Service Department "Staritsa" * Border Post "Zolochiv" * Mobile Border Post "Kharkiv" * Guardian Units

Commanders

* Colonel Egorov Ihor Vasylyovych (1992–1994) * Colonel Andreychenko Volodymyr Oleksandrovych (1995–2000) * Lieutenant-Colonel Neroda Viktor Vasyliovych (2000–2003) * Colonel Serhii Viktorovych Bidylo (2003–2006) * Colonel Ihor Yuriyovych Vasyankin (8 September 2006 – 14 December 2006) * Colonel Oleksandr Mykolayovych Zadorozhny (14 December 2006 – 2010) * Colonel Viktor Ivanovich Melnychenko (2010-?)У ХАРЬКОВСКИХ ПОГРАНИЧНИКОВ НОВЫЙ КОМАНДИР
/ref> * Lieutenant Colonel Oleksandr Ivanovych Kruk (2013–2015) * Colonel Yuriy Oleksandrovych Zaitsev (2015–2017) * Lieutenant Colonel Oleksandr Stepanovych Osadchuk (2017–2018) * Colonel Gots Roman Yevgeniyovych (2019-)

Structure

Харківський прикордонний загінДержавної прикордонної служби України

ПРИКОРДОННИК УКРАЇНИ No. 40 (5342), 26 ЖОВТНЯ 2012 РОКУ

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