State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus

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State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus
Дзяржаўны пагранічны камітэт Рэспублікі Беларусь
Государственный пограничный комитет Республики Беларусь
Emblem of the State Border Guard Service
Emblem of the State Border Guard Service
Flag of the Border Guard Service
Flag of the Border Guard Service
Agency overview
FormedSeptember 20, 1991 (1991-09-20)
Preceding agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionBelarus
Specialist jurisdiction
  • National border patrol, security, and integrity.
Operational structure
Headquarters24 Volodarsky Street, Minsk, Belarus
Agency executive
Child agencies
Website
gpk.gov.by
One of the buildings of the committee in Minsk

The State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus, GPK (Belarusian: Дзяржаўны пагранічны камітэт Рэспублікі Беларусь, ДПК, romanized: Dziaržaŭny pahraničny kamitet Respubliki Bielaruś, DPK; Russian: Государственный пограничный комитет Республики Беларусь, ГПК, romanized: Gosudarstvennyy pogranichnyy komitet Respubliki Belarus', GPK) manages the international borders of Belarus. Its armed paramilitary force is known as the Border Guard Service (Belarusian: Пагранічная служба Беларусі, romanized: Pahraničnaja služba Bielarusi; Russian: Пограничная служба Беларуси, romanized: Pogranichnaya sluzhba Belarusi), It carries out committee orders and policy. The primary tasks of the State Border Committee include:[1] border policy and enhancing border security.

The service covers the borders with Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.[2][3]

History

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The State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus traces its history back to the troops that oversaw the border with the German Empire in 1918 and the formal creation of the Soviet Border Troops in the same year.[4]

In 1939, a border with Germany was established, but the previous Polish-Soviet border was not liquidated. Upon the German invasion of the Soviet Union, approximately 16,000 of the 20,000 border troops became casualties in the first days of the war.[5] The service was essentially recreated from scratch in 1944.[4]

On September 20, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Belarus passed legislation subordinating the border troops to itself, effectively creating a national service. Most of the legislation governing the service was adopted by August 1993. From 1994 to 1997, the first border units were formed and deployed, and agreements were made with neighboring countries to facilitate cooperation between their respective border troops. On January 11, 1997, President Alexander Lukashenko signed a decree renaming the General Directorate to the State Committee of the Border Troops.[6]

On September 18, 2020, the committee announced it had tightened border security with Poland and Lithuania, calling up reserves to patrol the borders although Poland and Lithuania said their borders with Belarus remained open.[7]

After the start of the Belarus–EU border crisis, the leadership of the State Border Committee, including its chairman Lappo, was included in the sanctions lists of the European Union,[8] the United States[9] and Canada[10][11] on December 2, 2021. Switzerland joined the EU sanctions on December 20.[12]

Structure

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The Border Service of Belarus controls 11 territorial units, the Border Guard Institute, and a Military Hospital:[13]

Unit Founded Notes
Brest Border Group 1944 Named after Felix Dzerzhinsky
Lida Border Group 1997
Smorgon Border Group 1992
Grodno Border Group 1944
Gomel Border Group 1997
Pinsk Border Detachment 1993
Polotsk Border Detachment 1992
Mozyr Border Detachment 2014
Border Control Detachment "Minsk" 1945 It serves Minsk National Airport[14]
Logistics Support Group 1938
Communications and Support Group 2014
Border Guard Service Institute 1993[15]
Border Guard Military Hospital 1994[16]

Leadership

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Chairmen

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Chief of the General Directorate of Border Troops Leader Rank Term of office
Took office Left office
Yevgeny Bocharov Stanislav Shushkevich

Alexander Lukashenko

Lieutenant general February 19, 1992 August 30, 1994
Vasily Morkovkin Alexander Lukashenko Major general September 26, 1994 September 4, 1996
Alexander Pavlovsky Lieutenant general September 4, 1996 January 13, 1997
Chairman of the State Committee of the Border Troops Leader Rank Term of office
Took office Left office
Alexander Pavlovsky Alexander Lukashenko Lieutenant general January 13, 1997 April 10, 2007
Igor Rachkovsky Major general April 10, 2007 September 27, 2007
Chairman of the State Border Committee Leader Rank Term of office
Took office Left office
Igor Rachkovsky Alexander Lukashenko Major general September 27, 2007 July 31, 2012
Alexander Boechko Colonel August 2, 2012 November 2, 2013
Leonid Maltsev Colonel general November 2, 2013 December 27, 2016
Anatoly Lappo Lieutenant general December 29, 2016 May 30, 2023
Konstantin Molostov Major general May 30, 2023 Incumbent
Source: State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus[4][17]

First Deputy Chairman

[edit]
Name Rank Term of office Notes
Took office Left office
Alexander Popov Major general October 31, 1994 July 14, 1996 Died in the line of duty[18]
Evgeny Kovalev September 24, 1996 June 9, 2006 [19][20]
Vadim Zaitsev April 10, 2007 July 15, 2008 [21][22]
Andrey Gorulko August 29, 2008 August 2, 2012 [23][24]
Alexey Zagorodniy Colonel August 2, 2012 April 9, 2013 [25][26]
Igor Butkevich Major general April 12, 2013 August 21, 2024 [27][28]
Andrei Filatov Colonel August 21, 2024 Incumbent [29][30]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus". gpk.gov.by. Archived from the original on 7 June 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  2. ^ "State Border Committee". Gpk.gov.by. Archived from the original on 13 December 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  3. ^ "Taras Seredyuk, the State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus". 8 December 2017. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  4. ^ a b c "Краткая история органов пограничной службы Республики Беларусь" [A Brief History of the Border Guard Agencies of the Republic of Belarus] (in Russian). Archived from the original on June 6, 2025.
  5. ^ "Имя героя. Новый проект «ГП» к 75-летию освобождения Беларуси. Уроки мужества из 41-го" [A hero's name. A new project from 'GP' on the 75th anniversary of Belarus's liberation. Lessons in courage from '41]. gpk.gov.by (in Russian). 2019. Archived from the original on 25 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Указ Прэзiдэнта Рэспублiкi Беларусь ад 25 верасня 2007 г. № 448 "Аб некаторых пытаннях органаў пагранічнай службы"". Archived from the original on 2015-05-23. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  7. ^ "Belarus Tightens Border Security with Two EU Neighbors". Bloomberg.com. 18 September 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-11-03. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
  8. ^ "COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2021/2124 of 2 December 2021 implementing Article 8a(1) of Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 concerning restrictive measures in respect of Belarus". Official Journal of the European Union. 2021-12-02. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
  9. ^ "Belarus Designations; Publication of Belarus Directive 1 and related Frequently Asked Questions; Issuance of Belarus General License 5". United States Department of the Treasury. 2 December 2021. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Backgrounder: Belarus sanctions". Global Affairs Canada. 2 December 2021. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  11. ^ Steven Chase (2 December 2021). "Canada sanctions Belarus over migrant crisis in concert with Western allies". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  12. ^ "Searching for subjects of sanctions". State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. Archived from the original on 2021-09-09. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  13. ^ "Территориальные органы пограничной службы" [Territorial Border Guard Agencies]. tops.gpk.gov.by (in Russian). Archived from the original on 5 July 2025.
  14. ^ "История Отряда пограничного контроля "Минск"".
  15. ^ "История института" [History of the Institute]. ips.gpk.gov.by (in Russian). Archived from the original on 8 March 2017.
  16. ^ "История" [History]. hospital.gpk.gov.by (in Russian). Archived from the original on 1 October 2017.
  17. ^ "Руководители пограничного ведомства Республики Беларусь" [Chairmen of the Border Agency of the Republic of Belarus] (in Russian). Archived from the original on August 3, 2025.
  18. ^ "Попов Александр Павлович" [Popov Alexandr Pavlovich]. gpk.gov.by. Archived from the original on June 21, 2025.
  19. ^ "О назначении Е.П.Ковалева" [On the Appointment of E. P. Kovalev]. normativka.by (in Russian). President of Belarus. September 24, 1996. Archived from the original on August 3, 2025.
  20. ^ "Об освобождении Е.П.Ковалева" [On the Dismissal of E. P. Kovalev]. etalonline.by (in Russian). President of Belarus. June 9, 2006. Archived from the original on August 3, 2025.
  21. ^ "О назначении В.Ю.Зайцева" [On the Appointment of V. Yu. Zaitsev]. etalonline.by (in Russian). President of Belarus. April 10, 2007. Archived from the original on August 3, 2025.
  22. ^ "О назначении В.Ю.Зайцева" [On the Appointment of V. Yu. Zaitsev]. etalonline.by. President of Belarus. July 15, 2008. Archived from the original on August 3, 2025.
  23. ^ "О назначении А.Г.Горулько" [On the Appointment of A. G. Gorulko]. normativka.by. President of Belarus. August 29, 2008. Archived from the original on August 3, 2025.
  24. ^ "Об освобождении от должности А.Г.Горулько" [On the Dismissal of A. G. Gorulko from Office]. normativka.by (in Russian). President of Belarus. August 2, 2012. Archived from the original on August 3, 2025.
  25. ^ "О назначении А.В.Загороднего" [On the Appointment of A. V. Zagorodny]. normativka.by (in Russian). President of Belarus. August 2, 2012. Archived from the original on August 3, 2025.
  26. ^ "Об освобождении от должности А.В.Загороднего" [On the Dismissal of A. V. Zagorodny from Office]. normativka.by (in Russian). President of Belarus. April 9, 2013. Archived from the original on August 3, 2025.
  27. ^ "О назначении И.Е.Буткевича" [On the Appointment of I. E. Butkevich]. etalonline.by (in Russian). President of Belarus. April 12, 2013. Archived from the original on August 3, 2025.
  28. ^ "Об И.Е.Буткевиче" [About I. E. Butkevich]. normativka.by (in Russian). President of Belarus. August 21, 2024. Archived from the original on August 3, 2025.
  29. ^ "Об А.В.Филатове" [About A. V. Filatov]. normativka.by (in Russian). President of Belarus. 21 August 2024. Archived from the original on August 3, 2025.
  30. ^ "Филатов Андрей Викторович" [Andrei Viktorovich Filatov]. gpk.gov.by (in Russian). Archived from the original on 3 August 2025.