The Mohyliv-Podilskyi Border Detachment "Hero of Ukraine of Vyacheslav Semenov" (2193) 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 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 Moldova-Ukraine border and the

Transnistria Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...

border in two Raions (

Mohyliv-Podilskyi Raion Mohyliv-Podilskyi Raion () is one of the six raions (districts) of Vinnytsia Oblast, located in southwestern Ukraine. The administrative center of the raion is the city of Mohyliv-Podilskyi. Population: History On 18 July 2020, as part of the ...

and

Tulchyn Raion Tulchyn Raion () is one of the six raions (districts) of Vinnytsia Oblast, located in southwestern Ukraine. The administrative center of the raion is the town of Tulchyn. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukra ...

) of

Vinnytsia Oblast Vinnytsia Oblast (, ), also referred to as Vinnychchyna (), is an oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in central Ukraine. Its capital city, administrative center is Vinnytsia. The oblast has a population of History Vinnytsia Oblast, first established on ...

. The detachment guards a border length of 141.2km along the

Dniester The Dniester ( ) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and then through Moldova (from which it more or less separates the breakaway territory of Transnistria), finally discharging into the Black Sea on Uk ...

with the

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. ...

and 49.5km with

History

The detachment was established on 4 May 1992 in

Mohyliv-Podilskyi Mohyliv-Podilskyi (, ) is a city in Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Mohyliv-Podilskyi Raion within the oblast. It is located in the historic region of Podolia, on the border with Bessarabia, Moldova, along th ...

composed of 13 outposts and support units and at the end of 1993. In 1998 , the Mohylev-Podilskyi border control unit was awarded a battle flag. On 8 March 2014, the detachment in coordination with Moldovan border guard discovered and seized 6 canisters with 165 litres of alcohol. The detachment 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 ...

. Three guardsman of the detachment (Oleg Mykolayovych Hlushchak, Sokolovsky Viktor Ivanovich and Oleksandr Mykolayovych Dzyubelyuk) was killed on 27 July 2014 during the Zelenopillia rocket attack. A guardsman of the detachment (Volodymyr Oleksiyovych Blazhko) was killed on 27 July 2014 during the

Battle of the Border The Battle of the Border () refers to the battles that occurred in the first daysThe Battle of the Border began on 1 September, but sources vary with their assignment of an end date for this phase of the campaign. The shortest period is d ...

. The deputy commander of Mohylev-Podilskyi border detachment (Semenov Vyacheslav Anatoliyovych) was killed in combat on 17 February 2015, when separatists reinforced by artillery and tanks, attacked the Fashchivka checkpoint near

Debaltseve Debaltseve (, ) or Debaltsevo (), is a city in Horlivka Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, currently occupied by Russia as part of the Donetsk People's Republic. The city is situated on the eastern edge of Donetsk Oblast, and borders Luhansk Oblas ...

. A Russian tank fired at the positions of the border guards at close range wounding the deputy commander and while he was being evacuated, the BMP carrying him was hit by a shell and caught fire resulting in his death. On 23 August 2017, the detachment received the honorary name "

Hero of Ukraine A Hero of Ukraine (HOU; ) is the highest national decoration that can be conferred upon an individual citizen by the president of Ukraine. The decoration was created in 1998 by President Leonid Kuchma. As of 6 June 2025, the total number of re ...

Vyacheslav Semenov", the fallen deputy commander of the detachment. In June 2022, the detachment was involved in the construction of fortifications in

Donetsk Oblast Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...

. On 1 November 2022 near Nevelske, a Guardsman of the Detachment (Strelkov Georgy Mykolayovych) was killed during Russian artillery fire while saving his comrades and was posthumously awarded the

. On 29 September 2023, the detachment received 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 August 2024, the detachment detained a Moldovan man who drunkenly crossed the border on a bet. On 12 November 2024, the detachment detained two draft dodgers trying to escape on inflatable boats.

Structure

The structure of the Detachment is as follows: * Management and Headquarters * Border Service Department "Lyadova" * Border Service Department "Mohyliv-Podilskyi" * Border Service Department "Bronnytsia" * Border Service Department "Yampil" * Border Service Department "Velika Kisnytsia" * Border Service Department "Bolhan" * Border Service Department "Vinnytsia" * Border Service Department "Tsekinivka" * Border Service Department "Studena" * Mobile Border Post "Mohyliv-Podilskyi" * Guardian units Following checkpoints are under detachment's operation: * With the Republic of Moldova: **International Road Crossings: *** "Mohyliv-Podilskyi-Otach" *** "Bronnytsia-Ungry" ** International Railway Checkpoints: *** "Mohyliv-Podilskyi-Volchynets" ** Local checkpoints *** Oksanivka-Kureshnytsia *** Mykhailivka-Kremenchug *** Tsekinivka-Soroka *** Velika Kisnytsia-Vasylkytsia *** Yampil-Koseuts ** International Ferry Crossing points: *** "Yampil-Koseuts" ** Highway checkpoints: *** "Tsekinivka-Soroka" * On the border with "

": ** Road Crossings: *** Bolgan-Hristova *** Velika Kisnytsia-Khrushka *** "Studena-Rotar" *** "Grabarivka-Oknytsia" * Airport Checkpoints ** " Vinnytsia International Airport" ** " Khmelnytskyi Airport"

Commanders

* Lieutenant Colonel Oleksandr Oleksandrovich Stepaniuk (May-October 1992) * Lieutenant Colonel Mykola Hryhorovych Kolesnyk (1992-1995) * Lieutenant Colonel Gresko Valery Petrovych (1995-2003) * Colonel Oleg Ihorovych Valkiv (2003-2005) * Lieutenant Colonel Kukhtei Oleg Rostislavovych (2005-2006) * Lieutenant Colonel Vasylkivskyi Vladyslav Stanislavovych (2006-2007) * Lieutenant Colonel Oleksandr Volodymyrovych Shamutilo (2007-2008) * Lieutenant Colonel Ruslan Ivanovych Belei (2008-2009) * Lieutenant Colonel Vavryniuk Valery Pavlovich (October 2009-?) * Colonel Vasylyk Yury Borisovych (?-)

Sources

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Державної 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