Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ukraine)

This article is about the police authority of Ukraine. For the description of policing methods common to post-Soviet states, see Militsiya.

Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ukraine)
Міністерство внутрішніх справ України (Мiлiцiя України)
Agency overview
Preceding agency	Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
Headquarters	vul. Akademika Bohomol'tsya 10, Kiev
Employees	220,000
Website
Official English Page
Map

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Міністерство внутрішніх справ України, Ministerstvo vnutrishnikh sprav Ukrayiny, MVS) is the main body in the system of central bodies of executive power that provides formation and realization of the state policy in the sphere of protection the rights and liberties of citizens, unlawful acts against the interest of society and state, fight against crime, providing a civil order, ensuring a ccivil security, traffic safety, security and protection of very important persons. It is a centralised agency headed by a Minister of Internal Affairs.

The generic term for the Ukrainian police (and for police in most of the post-Soviet countries) is militsiya.

According to Amnesty International torture and ill-treatment by the militia is widespread in Ukraine. The existing of this was also conformed by President Viktor Yanukovych in December 2011. Several militia officers have been arrested for allegedly torturing detainees.

Terminology

An officer of the ДАI (Highways Police).

The force's name, мiлiцiя, translates roughly into the English language as 'Police', however this is often rendered in English as 'Militsiya' in order to match the original Ukrainian. The force's full name is the same as that of the ministry with which it is linked, Міністерство внутрішніх справ України which translated as 'Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine', however, the full official title of the force is rarely used in speech. On occasion the initials МВС (MVS) may be used to refer to the force.

An individual officer is typically called a мiлiцiонер (militsiyoner) (plural мiлiцiонери) (militsiyonery); these are not, however, official titles and are not included in the official rank structure, they are simply terms used to refer to any militsiya officer regardless of the rank they may hold. A police station is known as відділення міліції (viddilennya militsyii) which translates more or less into English as 'police department'. The term Управління МВС (Upravlinnya MVS) refers to a regional or national police command post.

On the whole, officers' individual ranks are not used by the general public and thus when addressing an officer, it is common to hear the term Пан (female - Пані), Ukrainian for mister/miss used to refer to police officers. On occasion, this may or may not be followed by the term Офіцер (Ofitser).

History

Early history

On February 2, 1713 by the order of Peter I in Ukraine were formed landmilitia out of regiments of the Russian army quartered in Ukraine and specially recruited soldiers to carry out security and guard duties. Since 1722 local cossacks were allowed to join landmilitia. In 1736 by the request of the great Russian military reformer General Field marshal Minikh the units of landmilitia were renamed into the Ukrainian Militia Corps that was accounted for 20 cavalry regiments. Since 1762 when the Emperor Peter III ordered the corps to be called simply the Ukrainian, the word landmilitia fell out of use. In 1770 the Ukrainian Corps was merged with the Russian regular army, however, the special tax that was paid by the population of Ukraine for the landmilitia upkeep was liquidated only in the beginning of 19th century.

MVS in the Soviet Republic of Ukraine

Main articles: Militsiya and Soviet political repressions

The contemporary Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine originates from the Soviet NKVD's branch in Ukrainian SSR - the "NKVD of the UkrSSR", which was later reformed into the "Ministry of Internal Affairs of UkrSSR" (Ministerstvo vnutrishnikh sprav Ukrayins'koyi SSR). Both agencies were merely a regional branch of the all-Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs, and essentially a militsiya force since the late 1950s. Despite some operational autonomy, all regulations and standards of policing were established by the central Ministry; Moscow was directly co-ordinating important operations in Ukraine (such as anti-corruption investigations regarding statesmen of higher levels or other politics-related issues), including deployment of detective brigades from central offices in case of need. TheMilitsiya of the Ukrainian SSR used the same ranks, insignia and vehicle liveries as the rest of the Soviet militsiya.

Like all the Soviet Ministries of Internal Affairs, the Ukrainian SSR MVS included not only the militsiya, but also the republican branch of non-police services, such as:

• Passport and registration offices
• Internal Troops and prison administration (including the Chief Directorate of Camps)
• Fire and rescue service

The Militsiya of Soviet Ukraine, at times, played part in politically motivated repressions against residents of the Ukrainian SSR. These crimes included the fabrication of charges against Ukrainian dissidents (such as Vyacheslav Chornovil), tackling occasional mass protests against Soviet rule and in those promoting religion, and the direct persecution of some marginal 'unacceptable' social and religious groups.

MVS of independent Ukraine

Officers from the Militsiya's public order department patrol Khreschatik Street in central Kiev.

Post-Independence reformation and the Gongadze case

Main articles: Georgiy Gongadze and Cassette Scandal

Since independence and before the 2004 Constitutional Reform, Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs was directly subordinate to the President of Ukraine (appointed by the President unilaterally), also a formal member of Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers. Before the Orange Revolution, only militsiya Generals (not civil statesmen), were appointed Ministers.

The Ukrainian militsiya has a significant record of law violation and human rights abuse. The most notorious case is the agency's involvement in the murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze in 2000. Soon after Gongadze's disappearance, recordings of a Major Melnychenko were revealed. A fragment of the recorded conversations portrayed MVS Minister Kravchenko promising President Kuchma to "take care" of the oppositional journalist. According to the recordings, Kravchenko told Kuchma that he controls a special group of high-class detectives "without any morals, and ready to do anything".

The decapitated and disfigured body of Gongadze was found later in a forest, and a long-lasting investigation started. In 2005, soon after the Orange Revolution, the first results of the case appeared. Three members of the MVS detective squad were charged with the abduction and murder of Gongadze. An international warrant was issued for their chief, General Oleksiy Pukach, who was supposedly hiding abroad. In March 2005, ex-Minister Kravchenko, the main participant of the case, was found shot in the head (supposedly by his own hand). Later, in September 2010, Ukraine's Office of the Prosecutor General issued a statement stating that prosecutors had concluded that Kravchenko had ordered Pukach to carry out the murder, and stating that Pukach had confessed to the murder.

In the Melnychen recordings, the hitmen group was called "orly" Ukrainian: орли (literally "eagles") by the Minister. (Orly here it is not a proper name, but a traditional Russian common name for brave and skillful soldiers). Since then, the phrase "Orly of Kravchenko", became a symbol of lawlessness and brutality in Ukrainian law enforcement.

MVS and the UBK campaign

Main article: Ukraine without Kuchma

In 2000-2001, the MVS was trying to tackle Ukraine without Kuchma (Ukrainian abbreviation: UBK) mass protest campaign against President Leonid Kuchma, using various methods: from direct attacks to the infiltration of provocateurs. The final confrontation took place on March 9, 2001 on the central streets of Kiev, including clashes between protesters and anti-riot units, and mass arrests of youngsters in the city.

MVS during the Orange Revolution and since

Further information: The role of Ukrainian intelligence and security agencies in the Orange Revolution

A girl attaches flowers to Kiev riot militisya officers' shields during the Orange Revolution.

During the 2004 election and the Orange Revolution, the MVS did not confront the opposition protests, although media sources claim that respective orders were given to its anti-riot units by senior commanders and leaders of the country. Minor clashes between protesters and the Berkut happened in the city of Chernihiv, but both sides agreed that they were incidental and provoked by unknown forces. The opposition also accused the militsiya of involvement in attempted electoral fraud that occurred at polling stations.

In February 2005, after the revolution, as part of the post-election democratic changes, President Viktor Yushchenko appointed Yuriy Lutsenko as the new Minister of Internal Affairs. Unlike his predecessors, Lutsenko was a career politician and had never served in the militsiya or any other law enforcement agency. Moreover, as one of the main figures in the Socialist Party of Ukraine, Lutsenko participated in several protest campaigns and conflicts with the militsiya. The new minister demanded resignations from those officers involved in racketeering. Thus, taking a significant step towards the establishment of civil control over the Ukrainian militia.

In January 2006, Minister Lutsenko admitted that the MVS is in possession of the evidence that would allow them to question and charge ex-President Leonid Kuchma in a privatization wrongdoing case, if only the MVS had the authority for starting such a case autonomously. Later, according to 2004 constitutional amendments that took effect after the 2006 parliamentary elections, the minister is now nominated by the Prime Minister and appointed by the Verkhovna Rada (parliament), without formal influence of the President. Thus Yuriy Lutsenko, the Minister at the time, who was previously appointed under the old procedure, was reappointed, thereby becoming the first-ever MVS Minister to be agreed upon by the parliamentary coalition and appointed by parliament.

On December 1, 2006, Verkhovna Rada dismissed Lutsenko and appointed Vasyl Tsushko of the Socialist Party as the new Minister. Like his predecessor, Tsushko was also a civil politician (and previously a vineyard manager), not connected to the militsiya before his appointment. Additionally, Tsushko was the first-ever MVS Minister not subordinated to the President. However, in 2007 Lutsenko returned to the post of minister and remained there until the elections which brought Viktor Yanukovich to power in 2010. After Yanukovich's election, Anatolii Mohyliov was appointed to the minister's position; he is a career militia officer and currently holds the rank of Colonel General of the militsiya. Vitaliy Zakharchenko succeeded him in November 2011.

Recent developments

Officers and a patrol car of the DAI, the Militsiya's traffic corps, at work in central Kiev.

In May 2007, the on-going political crisis in Ukraine lead to a jurisdiction dispute over the country's Internal Troops. Following minor political clashes involving the militsiya and presidential security forces, President Viktor Yuschenko issued a decree re-subordinating Internal Troops from the Ministry of Internal Affairs directly to the President. The MVS criticized both the decree and the subsequent troop movements. Luckily, both sides in the political crisis managed to avoid further clashes between law enforcers. Now the Internal Troops, as well as all militsiya units, returned to their routine tasks and re-established practical co-ordination. However, the legal dispute over Internal Troops remains unsolved. The Troops command declares its subordination to the President - according to the decree which is currently being appealed in court by the Cabinet of Ministers.

On October 10, 2008 officers from the Security Service of Ukraine detained deputy platoon commander of the Kharkiv city division patrol and inspection service regiment of the Main Interior Affairs Ministry Directorate in Kharkiv region on suspicion of pushing narcotic drugs.

According to head of the trade union of attested employees of law enforcement agencies Anatolii Onyschuk, sociologic research shows that 3.9% of the Ukrainian militiamen trust the state, while 67.7% distrusted the state.

Transportation

Traffic police officers and their patrol vehicles.

The Ukrainian militsiya uses a number of different models of automobile which range greatly in age and technical specification.

Current patrol fleet

Patrol Cars Lada 1200 and 110 ZAZ Tavria Daewoo Lanos Skoda Octavia Honda Accord Volkswagen Passat Mitsubishi Lancer

Vans GAZelle UAZ-452 GAZ-3302

All Terrain Vehicles Lada Niva (and Chevrolet Niva) UAZ-469

Ministers of Internal Affairs of Ukraine

See also: List of former interior ministers of Ukraine

Former minister of internal affairs, Yuriy Lutsenko.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs is headed by a minister who is also, incidentally, recognised as head of the national (state) police service, the militsiya. As a result of this system, many former ministers have previously had experience of serving in the police, and many were, prior to taking up their posts, generals of the militsiya. Typically the minister of internal affairs afforded the rank of Colonel General of Militsiya upon taking up his post in the Ukrainian Cabinet. To this date Yuriy Lutsenko and Vasyl Tsushko are the only former holders of the office who had never served in any of the Ukrainian or, earlier, Soviet law enforcement agencies.

List of Ministers of Internal Affairs of Ukraine

Name	From	Until	President	Notes
Andriy Vasylyshyn	August 24, 1991	July 21, 1994	Leonid Kravchuk	First post-independence minister
Volodymyr Radchenko	July 28, 1994	July 3, 1995	Leonid Kuchma	Acting July 21-28, 1994
Yuriy Kravchenko	July 3, 1995	March 26, 2001	Leonid Kuchma	Involved in 'Eagles of Kravchenko' case
Yuriy Smirnov	March 26, 2001	August 27, 2003	Leonid Kuchma
Mykola Bilokin	August 27, 2003	February 3, 2005	Leonid Kuchma
Yuriy Lutsenko	February 4, 2005	December 1, 2006	Viktor Yushchenko	First civilian minister
Vasyl Tsushko	December 1, 2006	December 18, 2007	Viktor Yushchenko	First minister never directly subordinate to the president
Yuriy Lutsenko	December 18, 2007	January 28, 2010	Viktor Yushchenko	Acting January 28-March 11, 2010 In May 2009 first deputy (Interior) Minister Mykhailo Kliuyev served as acting Minister during a seven day investigation. After that Lutsenko resumed the post.
Anatoliy Mohyliov	March 11, 2010	November 7, 2011	Viktor Yanukovich	First post-Orange revolution minister
Vitaliy Zakharchenko	November 7, 2011		Viktor Yanukovich	Former head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine

The minister of Internal Affairs is responsible directly to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, to the Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) and ultimately the President of Ukraine. His office is located in Kiev's Pechersk District.

Rank structure

Two officers of the 'ДАI', (Militsiya traffic corps) at work in Odessa. Note: the french-style kepi worn by the officers is part of the traditional summer uniform for the Militsiya in some of Ukraine's southern oblasts.

	Cadet Officers	Private Officers	Non-commissioned Officers
Shoulder insignia for every day uniform
Rank	Cadet of militsiya	Private of militsiya	Corporal of militsiya	Junior sergeant of militsiya	Sergeant of militsiya	Senior sergeant of militsiya	Starshina of militsiya	Praporshchik of militsiya	Senior praporshchik of militsiya

	Junior Commissioned Officers				Senior Commissioned Officers			General Officers
Shoulder insignia for every day uniform
Rank	Junior lieutenant of militsiya	Lieutenant of militsiya	Senior lieutenant of militsiya	Captain of militsiya	Major of militsiya	Lieutenant colonel of militsiya	Colonel of militsiya	Major General of militsiya	Lieutenant General of militsiya	Colonel General of militsiya

Structure

Ministry has 30 departments and three agencies that are subordinated to it. Minister has up to eight deputies (other than his first deputy) that head the main departments of the ministry.

A uniformed officer of the militsiya guards the German Embassy in Kiev during a non-violent political protest.

Motorcycle-mounted militsiya officers escort a car through central Kiev.

The following is the list of the main departments of the Ministry. In bold are identified departments headed by a deputy minister.

Departments of the Militsiya

The Following are constituent departments of the militsiya:

Leadership (consisting of the minister and his first deputy)

Office of Ministry (Department in monitoring of human rights in activities of OVS)

Advisers to the MVS

Deputy Minister - Chief of HUBOZ

• Chief Department in the fight against the organized crime (HUBOZ)
• Internal Security Service of HUBOZ
• Working office of the Ukrainian Bureau of Interpol (special department, formerly part of Criminal Militsiya)

Deputy Minister - Chief of Criminal Militsiya (consists of at least nine subordinated departments)

Deputy Minister - Chief of Militsiya of Civil Security

• Department of Civil Security
• Department of the State Auto Inspection (DAI)
• Department of Veterinary Militsiya in conducting quarantine in veterinary events
• Department of State Security Service (formerly part of Militsiya of civil security, it's currently a separate department)
• Department of transportation militsiya

Deputy Minister - Chief of HSU

• Chief Detection Department
• Department of Investigation (Inquiry)
• State Science-Research Expert-Criminal Center

Deputy Minister - Chief of Staff (several independent departments and directorates which are primarily for administrative support)

Deputy Minister

• Department of public relationship and international activity
• State Department on issues of citizenship, immigration, and registration of physical persons

Deputy Minister

• Supporting departments

Deputy Minister - Chief of MVS in Crimea

Service uniform sleeve insignia for uniformed officers

Branch	Criminal	Traffic	Public Order	State Security Service	Berkut
Insignia

Other departments of the ministry

There are a number of other departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs which are not directly related to the ministry's role as a civilian law enforcement agency. These are:

• GUVV - Chief Directorate of Internal Troops (special militarized department)
• Control-revisionary directorate
• Sub-Department of special communication
• Department of documentary service and scheduling

There are also three independent supporting agencies:

• State scientific-researching institute and higher educational institutions (supporting the Chief of Staff)

Educational institutions of the Ministry

Two female officer cadets of the Militsiya (from Lviv State University of Interior), helping tourists in Lviv.

Each university and institute often also has its own base program

• Academy of Management
• Kiev National University of Interior
• Kharkiv National University of Interior
  • Kirovohrad campus (Legal institute)
  • Kherson campus (Legal institute)
    • Sumy city affiliation
• Dnipropetrovsk State University of Interior
  • Zaporizhia campus (Legal institute)
    • Kryvyi Rih department
• Luhansk State University of Interior of Didorenko
  • Donetsk campus (Legal institute) contains a scientifically-researching center of psycho-training technologies
• Lviv State University of Interior
  • Prykarpattya campus (Legal institute)
• Odessa State University of Interior
  • Crimea campus (Legal institute)

Deployment outside Ukraine

Deployments in various UN missions as of November 2009:

• Democratic Republic of the Congo: (MONUC) - 3 Individual Police
• : (UNFICYP) - 1 Individual Police
• Kosovo: (UNMIK) - 1 Individual Police
• Liberia: (UNMIL) - 19 Individual Police
• Sudan: (UNMIS) - 19 Individual Police
• East Timor: (UNMIT) - 10 Individual Police
• Côte d'Ivoire: (UNOCI) - 4 Individual Police

See also

• Berkut (Ukrainian police)
• Prosecutor General of Ukraine
• Security Service of Ukraine
• Internal Troops of Ukraine

References

• How Top Spies in Ukraine Changed the Nation's Path by K.J.Chivers of the New York Times
• How the Gongadze Case Has Been Investigated (June 2005 Ukrayinska Pravda article on the history of the Gongadze Case investigation) (Ukrainian)
• The Key Witness in the Gongadze Case Dead (March 2005 Ukrayinska Pravda article on the death of Kravchenko, analysing also his role in the Gongadze case - includes fragments of the Melnychenko recordings) (Ukrainian)

Further reading

• Full collection of laws of the Russian Empire since 1649. Vol.5. Saint Petersburg, 1830. page 13. (Полное собрание законов Российской империи с 1649 г. - Спб., 1830. - Т. 5. - С. 13)

External links

• Official website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine (Ukrainian)
• Overview of MVS' special units (Russian)