State Border Guard Service of Ukraine

State Border Guard Service of Ukraine ( _uk. "Державна Прикордонна Служба України, Derzhavna Prykordonna Sluzhba Ukrayiny"; abbr. "ДПСУ", "DPSU") is the border guard of Ukraine. It is an independent agency subordinated to the President of Ukraine. During wartime, units of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine fall under the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine includes the Ukrainian Sea Guard, (the country's coast guard). It is also responsible for running "Temporary Detention Centres", in which refugees are held.

Current Staff

The current head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine is Colonel-General Mykola Lytvyn. There are two first deputies: Colonel-General Pavlo Shysholin, responsible for Border Security, and Colonel-General Mykhaylo Koval, responsible for personnel/staffing. [http://www.pvu.gov.ua/keriv.htm] .

Temporary Detention Centres

*Pavschino (Military Unit 2142) [ [http://www.cpt.coe.int/documents/ukr/2002-12-13-eng.htm Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee visits Ukraine] accessed 21-08-07]

History

The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine is a national successor of the Soviet Union Border Troops. It was first organized in 1991 as the "Ukrainian Border Troops", which was later subordinated to the "Ukraine's State Committee for State Border Guarding". The latter was renamed to the current name in March, 2003.

ee also

*Border control
*List of national border guard agencies

References

External links

* [http://www.pvu.gov.ua/control/en/index DPSU's official website]
* [http://www.pvu.gov.ua/control/en/publish/article?art_id=46586&cat_id=46540 Agency's history page on official website]