![]() “I live day to day and don’t plan for the future.” Her desperation and defiance are emblematic of many of the police officers who have transitioned to war duty. “My life changed completely,” she said, describing the loss of her house. ![]() Teaming with the army and national guard, police also staffed thousands of checkpoints across the region to keep people out of dangerous areas and to enforce curfews.įor Maria (an alias), who has been an officer since 2019, the invasion was personal. Officers anywhere in Kyiv could instantly tell citizens where the closest bomb shelter was. Kyiv police created a directory of bomb shelters overlaid on the map of the city that officers downloaded onto their tablets. Regional and municipal police tailored their services to the exigencies of their regions. In fact, police have become so commonly associated with emergency services that some units have been nicknamed “white angels” by the citizenry because they travel in white vans, says Vyhivskyi. In the early days of the war, the police pivoted to sifting through the rubble of demolished buildings or villages, evacuating residents, providing medical assistance and temporary shelter, and distributing food, water, medicine and other necessities. For example, Vyhivskyi says police were part of the military units that held out during the Siege of Mariupol until Ukrainian forces were ousted on May 16, 2022. “Enemy forces coming from the territory of the Republic of Belarus tried to take the capital, and, as a result, all of our police officers soon became united, and without warning we found ourselves a leading actor of the resistance.” That marked the beginning of a dramatic shift in responsibility for Ukrainian police, with units taking on EMT roles or military duties in tandem with the Ukrainian Army and National Guard. It seemed to last forever,” said Ivan Vyhivskyi, a General of the Third Rank of the National Police of Ukraine. In an instant, the officers were operating under the nation’s military administration. “All of our personnel were called in for combat awareness, and we all came back to our barracks.” “The 24th of February changed exactly everything,” said Viktor Veklych, colonel of the Security Police Department for the Kyiv region, who specializes in critical infrastructure protection. ![]() ![]() While those roles have not vanished, they have been greatly displaced by much graver responsibilities: capturing enemy infiltrators and spies, responding to rocket attacks, evacuating villages, getting heavy weapons off the streets, securing infrastructure, documenting war crimes and trying to identify the lifeless scattered along the streets. February 24, 2022: Russia invadesīefore the siege, Ukrainian officers had the same duties as most officers around the globe: intervene in domestic disputes, respond to robberies and muggings, arrest shoplifters and document traffic accidents. The man could be a Russian saboteur or provocateur. Russians have difficulty pronouncing the word correctly, which betrays their nationality and likely sympathies and intent. Now, with the country at war and many cops juggling civilian and military duties, “palyanitsya” has a much more existential purpose for Ukrainian police. Palyanitsya is a type of local hearth-baked bread.īefore Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the police might have been asking about stolen bread or drugs hidden in the dough. He’s unshaven and dressed like a laborer, but suspiciously looking at a rail line that runs through the capital, Kyiv. Ukrainian police approach a man in his mid-thirties. You will get a glimpse of both unique challenges and familiar issues faced by your colleagues around the world − an opportunity to gain insights, ideas, practices, policies and contacts for your own forces. Welcome to Behind the Global Shield, a new column from Police1 that will put you in the boots of patrol officers and the wingtips of police executives in locations from Kyiv to Kinshasa, Brussels to Brisbane, and Dubai to Durban.
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