The National Guard of Ukraine (NGU; , ; /NHU ) is the Ukrainian national

gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

and internal military force. It is part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, responsible for

public security Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensu ...

. Originally created as an agency under the direct control of the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

on 4 November 1991, following Ukrainian independence, it was later disbanded and merged into the Internal Troops of Ukraine in 2000 by President Leonid Kuchma as part of a "cost-saving" scheme. Following the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, amidst the Russian intervention, the National Guard was re-established, and the Internal Troops were disbanded. The purpose of the National Guard is to serve as a

military unit Military organization ( AE) or military organisation ( BE) is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer such military capability as a national defense policy may require. Formal military organization tends to use hiera ...

with

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

powers. Its mission is to ensure state security, protect state borders (supporting the State Border Service), participate in activities to neutralize paramilitary armed groups, terrorist organizations, organized groups and criminal organizations, protect critical infrastructure such as Ukraine's nuclear power plants, diplomatic missions, and buildings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The NGU has sent personnel to UN peacekeeping missions. During peacetime the National Guard focuses on civilian

, combating

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

and controlling

civil unrest Civil disorder, also known as civil disturbance, civil unrest, civil strife, or turmoil, are situations when law enforcement and security forces struggle to maintain public order or tranquility. Causes Any number of things may cause civil di ...

. During wartime the National Guard can be mobilized as a regular military force and take part in combat operations alongside the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which it has done during the war in Donbas and the

2022 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 ...

History

Original formation

The National Guard of Ukraine was originally created by the Law of Ukraine "On the National Guard of Ukraine" dated 4 November 1991, No. 1775 -XII. It was created on the basis of part of the Internal Troops of the Soviet Union in the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

, while the Internal Troops of Ukraine also was established at almost the same time in 1992 as parts of the Ukrainian branch of the old Soviet Internal Troops. The National Guard claimed to inherit the traditions and legacy of the Gendarmerie of the Ukrainian People's Republic, which existed from 1918 to 1919. During its early existence, the National Guard was indirectly involved in the Transnistria War of the Transnistria conflict during the spring and summer of 1992, helping to defend the border against a threatened spill-over of the conflict into Ukraine. Formations involved were the 3rd, 4th and 5th divisions NGU (equipment transferred from the 93rd Motorized Rifle Division was also used in this deployment). Afterwards, up until 1998, National Guard units backed up the border guards in anti-smuggling operations conducted on the border with Moldova and Moldova's breakaway

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 ...

region. In 1994, the National Guard was also involved in the 1992–1994 Crimean Crisis, which was an attempt by the Autonomous Republic of Crimea to declare itself sovereign after the 1991 Crimean sovereignty referendum. The National Guard was sent to restore order and Ukrainian sovereignty over Crimea. In 1995, there were calls for the dissolution of the National Guard by political opponents of President Leonid Kuchma, who accused him of dictatorial behavior after he resubordinated the guard to himself by decree. After Kuchma's re-election after the

1999 Ukrainian presidential election 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is lau ...

, the opposition continued to demand the extinction of the National Guard, which was done in 2000 as part of a concession to the opposition by Kuchma and justified as part of a "cost-saving scheme". The National Guard was dissolved by the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine" dated 11 January 2000, and merged with the Internal Troops of Ukraine, while some NGU formations were reassigned to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and thus were included in the order of battle of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.

Badges of the NGU 1991–2000

Reformation

In 2014, amidst Russian intervention to Crimea, the reformed force was created partially on the basis of the Internal Troops of Ukraine, with plans for the " Volunteer Battalions",

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

s and armed wings from certain of Ukraine's political parties and organisations, including the Euromaidan movement, to be also incorporated into it. Direct recruitment from military academies was also intended. The National Guard was recreated in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On the National Guard of Ukraine" aw number 4393dated 12 March 2014, (the draft legislation being originally introduced to the

Ukrainian parliament The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovna Rada building in Ukraine's capi ...

on 11 March). A previous attempt by then President Yushchenko to bring back the National Guard during civil unrest in 2008 had been blocked in the ''Rada''. It was finally re-established in March 2014 after the beginning of the

annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russ ...

. On 16 March, the Yatsenyuk Government announced plans to recruit 10,000 people within the next 15 days for the by now revived National Guard. Individual volunteers were also accepted. The 2014 law provided for an initial authorised strength of 33,000 personnel. It also tasks the National Guard with maintaining public order, protecting sites like nuclear power plants and "upholding the constitutional order and restoring the activity of state bodies", in part a reference to the situation in Crimea, as well as to the perceived Russian threat to Ukraine as a whole. In the eastern parts of the country in particular, not only will the National Guard reinforce regular military units defending against a feared Russian invasion, it will also be expected to uphold Part 1 of Art. 109 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (i.e. it is intended to act as a

counterinsurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN, or NATO spelling counter-insurgency) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the ac ...

force against fifth columnists and infiltrators). The National Guard will be receiving a large proportion of the money from the emergency budgetary reprogramming approved by parliament for the funding of weapons procurement, equipment repair, and training (said reprogramming is equivalent to $600 million in 2014 Dollars). It is hoped that, eventually, the strength of the National Guard will rise to 60,000 personnel. The pay for National Guard regulars is approximately 214 Euros ($297) a month, equivalent to an average Ukrainian's monthly income. Officers receive about twice that amount. There are also some attached Internal Troops personnel, mostly for training and/or logistical support purposes, e.g. K-9 teams that have been taking part in training and demonstration sessions. During the ongoing war in the Donbas region of Ukraine, the forces of the revived National Guard have fought against pro-Russian separatists and Russian troops disguised as separatists. Due to lack of reserves, earlier in the conflict willing civilians and political groups created their own militias and paramilitary groups, known as the " Volunteer Battalions", to fight the separatists on their own. The Battalions were credited to have held the line against the separatists and allowed the National Guard and the

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

to reorganize and strike back. Some of the Battalions were placed under the aegis of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Two of them were the Azov and Donbas battalions, which were the largest volunteer units by far with a strength of 1,000 and 900 soldiers. Due to the size and operational success of those Battalions, they were transferred to be under the command of the National Guard.Ukraine underplays role of far right in conflict

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

(13 December 2014) In May, the National Guard saw one of its first combat operations at the First Battle of Mariupol, where they clashed with pro-Russia militants and demonstrators during the unrest in Mariupol. They first attempted to occupy several government buildings before they were routed by National Guard riot troops, but soon the unrest evolved into heavy fighting between government and separatist militia forces. Around the same time on May, separatist troops captured the terminal buildings of Donetsk International Airport, the National Guard circled the separatist forces, issuing an ultimatum demanding the surrender of the separatists — which was denied — and the paratroopers launched an assault on the airport. The incident became known as the First Battle of Donetsk Airport. On the same month, National Guard Major General Serhiy Kulchytsky was killed during the Siege of Sloviansk, when his helicopter was shot down by separatists. On early June, a Border Guard base and a National Guard were besieged in Luhansk and after 10 hours of battle the base fell after the guardsmen ran out of ammunition. On October 13, several National Guards troops protested outside the Ukrainian presidential administration building in Kyiv, they demanded the end of conscription and their own demobilisation. According to '' Kyiv Post'', many of the protesters were former Internal Troops who had clashed with

Euromaidan Euromaidan ( ; , , ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv. The p ...

protesters, and they were not in favour of that movement or the new government. Three National Guardsmen died in a riot on 31 August 2015 at the

when a policeman on leave threw a grenade outside the facade. According to official figures, by mid-April 2016, the Interior Ministry and the National Guard have lost 308 personnel since the war in Donbas broke out, including 108 from the National Guard's volunteer battalions.

Russo-Ukrainian War

Beginning Thursday, 24 February 2022, the day the Russian Armed Forces invaded Ukraine, the NGU has been active in many of the land battles fought by Ukrainian forces during the current war. On the first day of the war, the Russian Airborne Forces (VDV) attempted an

air assault Air assault is the movement of ground-based military forces by vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, such as helicopters, to seize and hold key terrain that has not been fully secured, and to directly engage enemy forces behind enemy l ...

on the Antonov Airport in

Hostomel Hostomel (, ) is a Rural settlement#Ukraine, rural settlement in Bucha Raion, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. It is located northwest of the capital Kyiv. It hosts the administration of Hostomel settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Populatio ...

, northwest

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, in order to do an air lift and bring more troops and heavier equipment to the capital in a military engagement that became known as the

Battle of Antonov Airport The battle of Antonov Airport, also known as the battle of Hostomel Airport, was a military engagement which occurred at the Hostomel Airport, Antonov Airport in Hostomel, Kyiv Oblast, during the Northern front of the Russian invasion of Ukrai ...

. In the initial phases of the assault, the VDV expelled a small garrison of the National Guard and took control of the airport. However, the 4th Rapid Reaction Brigade of the Ukrainian National Guard swiftly reacted by launching an extensive counter-attack, using armored vehicles and artillery, that encircling the unsupported Russian troops and repelled the attack. The airport was captured by a renewed Russian offensive the next day, but the airport was rendered unusable by battle damage. The actions of the 4th Brigade were credited with preventing the quick capitulation of

, and led to the Russian offensive on Kyiv stalling and eventually withdrawing. 169 National Guard troops were captured after the battle of Chernobyl. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that "Currently, control over the situation at the Chernobyl NPP is being exercised jointly by Russian servicemen, Ukrainian specialists, the plant's civilian personnel, and that country's National Guard". But later reports indicated they were captured and locked in a bunker for 30 days. On 6 April, the Ukrainians officially announced the National Guard had retaken and reestablished control over the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The Azov Regiment was heavily involved in the Siege of Mariupol, being one of the primary defenders of the city. The other units of the National Guard defending the city were the . The Azov's origins as a neonazi and ultranationalist militia, and its legitimization by the Ukrainian government and inclusion in the official structure of the National Guard has been a point of contention. It has been used by Russia to paint the Ukrainian government as Nazi-leaning, as justification for the brutality in

Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...

and as a ''

casus belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one bou ...

'' for the invasion itself. After the retreat of Russian forces from the Kyiv axis, the 4th Rapid Reaction Brigade was redeployed to Eastern Ukraine, to fight on the eastern front of the war. In the east, unit was involved at the Battle of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, where they fought a month-long defense of the twin cities. And later in the year, the unit was deployed at Bakhmut to fight in the grueling Battle of Bakhmut. The National Guard began the raising of an additional 6 "

Offensive Guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative (Netherlands), Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tende ...

" Infantry Brigades in February 2023 to bolster its fighting forces under the recommendation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with the remaining two under other agencies. These brigades, unlike those under Army wartime control, report directly to NGU General Headquarters in Kyiv through operational commanders. Under these circumstances, and with most of the former Azov Regiment veterans of Mariupol (by now released if living) and other battles now reporting under the Armed Forces' overall command, the regiment was reflagged and reactivated, this time, as a National Guard Offensive Infantry Brigade, organized in like manner as the rest of its fellow brigades.

Structure

The National Guard of Ukraine is a military force under the command of Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, and is tasked to protect public order, strategically important facilities and counter illegal paramilitary groups. Originally formed in 1991, in 2000 the National Guard was disbanded due to financial issues, then restored in 2014 after the Maidan revolution on the basis of the former Internal Troops of Ukraine, which formerly co-existed with the first iteration of the NGU. During martial law periods, the units of National Guard are subordinated to Ukrainian Armed Forces. As of 2023 the National Guard is structured in five Operational-Territorial Commands: * Central Command,

Dnipro Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

, Dnipro Oblast * Eastern Command,

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

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 ...

* Northern Command,

Kyiv Oblast Kyiv Oblast (, ), also called Kyivshchyna (, ), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, which is administered as a city with special sta ...

* Southern Command,

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

Odesa Oblast Odesa Oblast (), also referred to as Odeshchyna (Одещина), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its administrative centre is the city of Ode ...

* Western Command,

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

Lviv Oblast Lviv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Lvivshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast in western Ukraine. The capital city, capital of the oblast is the city of Lviv. The current population is History Name The region is named ...

Directly reporting formations under GHQ National Guard

* National Guard Headquarters Protection & Support Battalion * 22nd Diplomatic Missions & Consular Posts of Foreign States Protection Brigade * Ukrainian Air National Guard * Military Band Service of the National Guard of Ukraine * National Guard Signals Center

Volunteer units

* Kruk Battalion,

Ivano-Frankivsk Ivano-Frankivsk (, ), formerly Stanyslaviv, Stanislav and Stanisławów, is a city in western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast as well as Ivano-Frankivsk Raion within the oblast. Ivano-Frankivsk also host ...

, Ivano-frankivsk Oblast * Kulchitskyi Battalion,

* Dnipro-1 Regiment,

, Dnipro Oblast

Operational brigades

* 1st "Burevii" Brigade ( Petro Doroshenko), Vyshorod,

** 1st Operational Battalion “Forpost” ** 2nd Operational Battalion “Irbis” ** 3rd Operational Battalion “Hroza” ** 4th Operational Battalion “Khoryv” ** Field Artillery Battalion ** Anti-Aircraft Defense Battalion * 3rd "Spartan" Brigade ( Petro Bolbochan),

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

** 1st Infantry Battalion ** 2nd Infantry Battalion ** 3rd Infantry Battalion ** 4th Guardsmen Battalion ** Tank Company ** Artillery Battalion ** Anti-Aircraft Defense Battalion ** Reconnaissance Company * 4th "Rubizh" Brigade (Serhii Mikhalchuk),

** HHC ** 1st Infantry Battalion ** 2nd Infantry Battalion ** 3rd "Svoboda" Infantry Battalion ** 4th Infantry Battalion ** 5th Infantry Battalion ** 6th Infantry Battalion ** Tank Battalion ** Field Artillery Regiment ** Anti-Aircraft Defense Battalion ** Reconnaissance Company * 12th "Azov" Brigade (formerly 12th Operational Brigade), Yurivka,

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 ...

** Brigade HHC ** 1st Infantry Battalion ** 2nd Infantry Battalion ** 3rd Guardsmen Battalion ** Tank Company ** Artillery Battalion ** Anti-Aircraft Defense Battalion ** Reconnaissance Company * 13th Khartiia Brigade,

* 14th Chervona Kalyna Brigade ( Ivan Bohun), Kalynivka,

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 ...

* 15th "Kara-Dag" Brigade (Bohdan Zavada),

Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia, formerly known as Aleksandrovsk or Oleksandrivsk until 1921, is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia ...

Zaporizhzhia Oblast Zaporizhzhia Oblast (), commonly referred to as Zaporizhzhia (), is an oblast (region) in south-east Ukraine. Its administrative centre is the city of Zaporizhzhia. The oblast covers an area of , and has a population of The oblast is an import ...

** 1st Infantry Battalion ** 2nd Infantry Battalion ** 3rd Guardsmen Battalion ** Tank Company ** Artillery Battalion ** Anti-Aircraft Defense Battalion ** Reconnaissance Company * 16th Artillery Brigade,

, Dnipro Oblast * 45th Operational Regiment,

* Special Operations Center "Omega" * Special Purpose Unit "Typhoon"

Protection of public order

* 11th Hrushevsky Brigade,

** 18th Public Protection Battalion,

Izmail Izmail (, ; ; , or ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the Danube river in Odesa Oblast in south-western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Izmail Raion, one of seven distr ...

* 19th Public Protection Regiment,

Mykolaiv Mykolaiv ( ), also known as Nikolaev ( ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and a hromada (municipality) in southern Ukraine. Mykolaiv is the Administrative centre, administrative center of Mykolaiv Raion (Raions of Ukraine, district) and Myk ...

Mykolaiv Oblast Mykolaiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Mykolaivshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Mykolaiv. At the most recent estimate, the population ...

* 21st Kalnyshevsky Brigade,

Kropyvnytskyi Kropyvnytskyi (, ) is a city in central Ukraine, situated on the Inhul, Inhul River. It serves as the administrative center of Kirovohrad Oblast. Population: Over its history, Kropyvnytskyi has changed its name several times. The settlement ...

and Kryvyi Rih * 23rd Khortytsia Brigade,

, Melitopol, Berdyansk and Energodar * 25th Prince Askold Brigade,

** Special Honor Guard Battalion * 31st Major General Oleksandr Radievskyi Brigade,

Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in simultaneously southern, eastern and central Ukraine, the most important industrial region of the country. It was created on February 27, 1932. Dnipropetro ...

Mixed units

* 2nd Galician Brigade ** 15th Separate Battalion * 5th Slobozhansk Brigade * 17th Poltavska Brigade * 18th Sloviansk Brigade ** 2nd Donbas Battalion * 26th Separate Battalion * 27th Separate Regiment * 31st Cherkasy Regiment * 32nd Volyn Battalion * 34th Kherson Regiment * 35th Sumysky Regiment * 40th Danylo Nechai Regiment ** 13th Separate Battalion * 50th Vysochan Regiment ** 4th Kruk Battalion * 75th Zhytomyr Battalion

Transport protection units

* 14th Separate Battalion * 19th Separate Battalion * 27th Pechersk Brigade * 34th Separate Battalion

State Objects Protection units

* 1st Facilities Protection Regiment * 2nd Facilities Protection Regiment * 4th Facilities Protection Regiment

Nuclear Power Plant Guards

* 28th Facilities Protection Regiment * 29th Facilities Protection Regiment * 30th Facilities Protection Regiment * 33rd Facilities Protection Regiment

Commanders

* 1991–1995: Lieutenant General Volodymyr Kukharets * 1995–1996: Lieutenant General Oleksandr Kuzmuk * 1996–1998: Lieutenant General Ihor Valkiv * 1998–2000: Lieutenant General Oleksandr Chapovsky * 2000–2014: transferred to the Commander of Internal Troops * 2014 Lieutenant General Stepan Poltorak * 2014–2015: Lieutenant General Mykola Balan (acting) * 2015–2019: Colonel General Yurii Allerov * 2019–2022: Lieutenant General Mykola BalanShooting in Dnipro: Zelensky officially fired the commander of the National Guard
TSN (27 January 2022) * 2022–2023: Lieutenant General Yuriy Lebid * 2023–present: Brigadier General Oleksandr Pivnenko

Training

New recruits (those not transferring in from the Internal Troops, Ground Forces or military academies) will undergo an initial two-week compressed training course, covering a range of areas from firearms and unarmed combat, to map reading and communications. Those signing up to be full-time members of the Guard will receive at least an additional four weeks of training. For those part-time members who complete their two-week training and return to their communities to await call-up, the authorities appear to be planning to implement a variation of the March battalion system; based where possible around existing civilian militias and armed groupings. Most of those use the sotnya as their basic unit, as does the National Guard itself. In March 2015, the National Guard of Ukraine received training from the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. The training took place at the Yavoriv training center near the western Ukrainian city of

. The 173rd Airborne paratroopers trained the Ukrainians on how to better defend themselves against "Russian and rebel artillery and rockets." Training also included securing roads, bridges, and other infrastructure and treating and evacuating casualties. Officers and NCOs of the NGU are trained under the aegis of the National Guard Military Academy of Ukraine.

Ranks and insignia

Officers Other Ranks and NCOs

Long Service Medal

File:Медаль «Ветеран служби» (НГУ).png, 25 years in service File:ЕСКІЗ відомчої заохочувальної відзнаки Національної гвардії України 03.png, 20 years in service File:ЕСКІЗ відомчої заохочувальної відзнаки Національної гвардії України 02.png, 15 years in service File:ЕСКІЗ відомчої заохочувальної відзнаки Національної гвардії України 01.png, 10 years in service

Equipment

Gallery

Notes

References

External links and further reading

* *
National Guard recruitment webpage, operated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs
(In Ukrainian). Accessed 29 March 2014.
Spetsnaz NGU
Unofficial website. * Taras Kuzio, "The non‐military security forces of Ukraine." The '' Journal of Slavic Military Studies'' 13, no. 4 (2000): 29–56. {{authority control Military of Ukraine Law enforcement agencies of Ukraine Counterinsurgency organizations Emergency management in Ukraine 1991 establishments in Ukraine Military units and formations established in 1991 Military units and formations disestablished in 2000 2000 disestablishments in Ukraine 2014 establishments in Ukraine Military units and formations established in 2014 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine War in Donbas Institutions with the title of National in Ukraine

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...