Chernivtsi Border Detachment
The 31st Chernivtsi Border Detachment, named after General Oleksandr Pylkevich, is a brigade‑level unit of Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service. Based in Chernivtsi, it guards the Ukraine–Romania and Ukraine–Moldova borders, plus Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernivtsi airports. It covers about 404.7 km of border—234.7 km with Romania and 170 km with Moldova—and operates in several districts of Chernivtsi and Ivano‑Frankivsk Oblasts. Since 2008 it has been staffed entirely by contract soldiers. It was established in 1992 and celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2014. In 2016, more than 100 new conscripts joined.
Key notes and recent activity: in 2018 the detachment received the honorary name of “Colonel-General Oleksandr Pylkevich.” It has intercepted smuggling attempts, including 6,400 cigarettes in March 2021 and a further 4,400 in May 2021. The detachment has suffered fatalities in combat: guardsman Khomandyak Roman in January 2023, Oleksandr Reshetnyk in October 2023, and Grubo Roman in November 2023. In late 2023 and 2024, it detained several people crossing illegally, seized vehicles, and captured traffickers. In June 2024, an attack by armed assailants was repelled, resulting in one attacker killed and another wounded. The detachment oversees 21 checkpoints, including 12 international ones.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 03:57 (CET).