Law enforcement in Ukraine is the responsibility of a variety of different agencies.After the First World War, ethnic Ukrainians again found themselves under the auspices of either the Soviet or Polish governments. This situation lasted until the beginning of the Second World War, at which point the whole of what is now considered Ukrainian territory came under control of the Soviet Union.
During the war the German Wehrmacht was pressured for political reasons to gradually restore private properties in zones under military control and accept local volunteer recruits into their units and the Waffen SS, promoted by local nationalists' organizations O.U.M. and U.P.A., while receiving political support from the Wehrmacht. This led to the establishment of a Ukrainian Schutzpolizei to police Nazi-controlled areas of Ukraine.
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.[2]
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)[3]
- Fire and rescue service
Law enforcement agencies - National Police of Ukraine - civil police service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Previously, the Мiлiцiя (English: Militia).
- National Guard of Ukraine - provide a gendarmerie function, supporting the Militsiya and dealing with large-scale riots and internal armed conflicts. They also provide security for highly important facilities (like nuclear power plants).
- Служба Безпеки України (English: Security Service of Ukraine) - provides domestic intelligence service and presidential guard, and used to operate as a secret police.
- Державна Прикордонна Служба України (English: State Border Guard Service of Ukraine) - provides a border guard.
- Морська охорона (English: Sea Guard) - a coast guard subordinate to the State Border Guard Service.
- Державна кримінально-виконавча служба України (English: State Prison and Penitentiary Service) - provides prison administration and guard functions.
- Морська охорона (English: Sea Guard) - a coast guard subordinate to the State Border Guard Service.