Last year was a period of trials and changes. It was difficult and intensive for maritime border guards.

Last year was a period of trials and changes. It was difficult and intensive for maritime border guards.

In spite of everything, the Marine Guard did not reduce its presence at sea. More than 40 units of the ship-boat went one and a half thousand times to the sea on service. After passing almost 70 thousand nautical miles, they controlled the order of navigation and stay of more than 12,000 foreign and coastal vessels in the territorial sea, inland waters, in the adjacent zone and in the exclusive maritime economic zone of Ukraine, and more than 1,000 inspections were conducted.

In 2020, we managed to establish and intensify effective cooperation with border guard aviation: about 170 flights were provided, which is 3 times more than last year's statistics.

For the implementation of operational information, providing force support to the ship-boat   at sea, the density of use of special operations units in border protection significantly increased.

As a result, there were no violations of the state border regime in the area of ​​responsibility of the Marine Guard. The established border regime in the territorial sea and inland waters of the Danube River has been ensured.

The units of the Marine Guard, which are part of the Joint Forces, are worthy counteracting the provocations of the Coast Guard and Black Sea Fleet in the Sea of ​​Azov, reliably protecting the border from Russian aggression. The Marine Guard from the Danube to Azov performs tasks on a permanent basis to combat illegal migration, illegal movement of excisable goods, smuggling of weapons, means of terror and drugs.

Together with representatives of fish protection patrols, environmental inspection, maritime border guards prevent violations of the rules of use of wildlife and environmental legislation. They provide control over compliance with legislation on the protection of underwater cultural heritage.

Last year, as a result of the violations, 12 vessels were forbidden to go to sea (on the river), more than 150 violators of border and environmental legislation were prosecuted, and economic losses totaling 4 million UAH were not allowed.

Marine Guard is developing rapidly due to its own potential and with the support of international partners. In 2020, the Izmail Marine Guard Detachment and the Berdiansk Division of Boats were deployed, and the formation of another division, Skadovskyi, began. Thanks to the support of partners, the construction of bases in Berdiansk and Mariupol has started, and the implementation of a large-scale project to reconstruct the permanent base of a ship-boat depot in Odessa is ahead. Large-scale and comprehensive preparations for the acceptance of the first ships produced under the Ukrainian-French project are underway.

Everything from current documentation to staff training, from bases to methods of service planning and the use of Marine Guard forces and resources, is carefully analyzed and reformed in line with the best EU and NATO standards. The Marine Guard Training Center, which trains the main personnel potential of junior specialists, trained about 450 specialists last year, updated the material and educational base, the curriculum is dynamically modernized, the teaching staff quickly and meaningfully saturates the materials with new knowledge and technologies.

“Participation in international programs and trainings, active work with vocational guidance and internship of cadets of the Navy Institute, development of new units are the main stages of our joint methodological work on the way to the main goal, to create a new format Marine Guard according to the best world standards,” Chief of the Regional  Directorate Rear Admiral Oleh Kostur concluded and motivated maritime border guards.