The State Border Guard Service founded its third combat brigade, "Hart" (a Ukrainian word for "to harden"), on April 30 on the occasion of Ukraine's Border Guard Day, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko announced on his Telegram channel.
The State Border Guard Service fell under the Ukrainian Armed Forces' control after Russia's full-scale invasion started in February 2022.
This armed branch is responsible for policing Ukraine's state border on land and water. The State Border Guard Service's units were the first ones to face the Russian troops on Feb. 24, 2022, when the all-out war started.
Klymenko said that members of the newly established unit have already served on the eastern border of the country.
In his address, the minister also recalled the main battles in which State Border Guard Service's units were involved: the defense of Zmiinyi (Snake) Island and the city of Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast, the liberation of Ukraine's northern territories and Kharkiv Oblast in 2022 counteroffensive, and the battle for Kyiv at the very beginning of the full-scale invasion.
"This is a difficult but worthy path that leads us to the goal of reaching the borders of 1991. To a safe and peaceful Ukraine," Klymenko wrote on his Telegram channel.
On Ukraine's Border Guard Day, President Volodymyr Zelensky also promoted Serhii Deineko, the head of the State Border Guard Service, from major general to lieutenant general, according to the Presidential Office's website.
Kateryna Denisova
