Special forces units of the Department: a path of development

Historical record regarding the formation and activities of special forces units of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine

The special forces units of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine were established during the era of the former USSR.
The impetus for the creation of special forces units within the Main Directorate of Penitentiary Institutions (GUVP) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR was the deterioration of the operational situation in correctional facilities in the late 1980s. Aggression among convicted persons increased in these facilities, and a steady trend toward open opposition to the administration had emerged. The number of attacks on facility staff and incidents of hostage-taking increased (between 1986 and 1997, there were 24 cases of hostage-taking). To professionally prevent the illegal actions of convicted persons, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR ordered the creation of special forces detachments within the GUVP of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
By orders of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 421-90 and the Ukrainian SSR Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 49-91, the following were created: a republican special forces detachment under the Directorate of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR in the Donetsk region, inter-regional special forces detachments under the Directorates of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, and Lviv regions, and a regional special forces detachment under the Directorate of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR in the Luhansk region. The authorized strength of the detachments was 192 personnel: 70 in Donetsk; 25 each in Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Lviv; 24 in Kyiv; and 23 in Luhansk.
In connection with the formation of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Sentences (hereinafter the State Department) and its removal from the subordination of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the special forces detachments were reorganized into special purpose units of the State Penitentiary System of Ukraine by order of the State Department dated 27 March 2000, No. 75. Also, this order disbanded the special forces detachments under the State Department’s directorates in the city of Kyiv and the Kyiv and Lviv regions, and created such a unit under the State Department’s directorate in the Zhytomyr region. The total authorized strength of the special purpose units was reduced to 160 personnel, and the number of units to five.
Throughout their existence, the special forces units of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine have been repeatedly involved in special operations to maintain law and order, ensure compliance with the requirements of the regime and internal order in correctional facilities and pre-trial detention centers, rescue hostages, and more.
For instance, on 2 February 2002, forces from the special purpose units under the State Department’s directorates in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions conducted a special operation to rescue hostages who had been seized by six convicted persons at the Daryivska Correctional Colony (No. 10) in the Kherson region. The convicts were armed with improvised explosive devices, homemade firearms, knives, and sharpened metal plates. During the forceful phase of the special operation, three convicts were killed and two were severely wounded. Hostages and staff were not harmed.
On 10 November 2007, forces from the special forces unit under the State Department’s directorate in the Luhansk region conducted a special operation to rescue hostages seized by three convicts serving life sentences at the Slovianoserbsk Correctional Colony (No. 60) in the Luhansk region. The convicts were armed with traumatic weapons converted to fire live ammunition. During the forceful phase of the special operation, one convict was killed and two were neutralized. Hostages and staff were not harmed.
In 2003, the State Department issued order No. 163 dated 8 September 2003, "On the formation of special purpose units of the penitentiary system, approval of their staffing and the Regulations on these units."
By this order, in addition to the five existing units, a special purpose unit was re-established under the State Department’s directorate in the city of Kyiv and the Kyiv region. The total authorized strength of the units remained unchanged (160 personnel).
In 2005, by the State Department’s order No. 167 dated 10 October 2005, "On approval of the Regulations on the special forces unit," the special purpose units were renamed the special forces units of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine.
As of today, the total authorized strength of the units is 165 personnel. Of these: 38 personnel in the special forces unit under the State Department’s directorate in the Dnipropetrovsk region; 31 personnel in the special forces unit under the State Department’s directorate in the Donetsk region; 25 personnel each in the special forces units under the State Department’s directorates in the Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Zhytomyr regions; and 21 personnel in the special forces unit under the State Department’s directorate in the city of Kyiv and the Kyiv region. In the same year, based on the location of the units and their assigned tasks, the State Department’s order No. 86 dated 25 April 2006 assigned specific correctional facilities and pre-trial detention centers to each of the units.
In accordance with Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine "On combating terrorism," the State Department is one of the primary entities directly engaged in combating terrorism on the territory of our State. Thus, the main tasks of the special forces units, in accordance with Articles 12 and 18 of the Law of Ukraine on the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine and Article 105 of the Penitentiary Code of Ukraine, are the prevention and suppression of terrorist-related crimes at the facilities of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine, as well as the prevention and suppression of actions that disrupt the work of correctional facilities and pre-trial detention centers.
In addition, in accordance with clause 58 of the State Department’s order No. 275 dated 25 December 2003 and clause 36 of the State Department’s order No. 205/dsk dated 22 October 2004, the units also perform the following functions:
the search for and detention of convicted persons, as well as persons in custody, who have escaped, including during anti-terrorist operations;
ensuring the maintenance of law and order during the introduction of a special regime in correctional facilities and pre-trial detention centers in cases of natural disasters, epidemics, accidents at critical life-support systems, mass disturbances, manifestations of group disobedience by convicts and persons in custody, or in the event of a real threat of an armed attack on the facilities of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine, and the suppression of group illegal actions by convicts and persons in custody, as well as the liquidation of their consequences;
conducting inspections and searches of convicts and persons in custody, their belongings, inspections of other persons and their belongings, and vehicles located on the premises of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine, enterprises of correctional facilities, and adjacent areas, as well as the confiscation of prohibited items and documents;
cooperation with the special units of other law enforcement agencies in the sphere of combating terrorism.

Department of Security, Supervision, and Safety