Ukraine National Police – Policing During War

Providing police services for a nation of 44 million is challenging enough during peacetime. The National Police of Ukraine (NPU) was established in 2015 following the 2014 Revolution of Dignity; after decades of rigid, Soviet-style bureaucracy based on a civil law model, the citizens of Ukraine decided to transition policing to a public service model. Given entrenched police methodologies, training, and systems, change management was difficult but citizen trust in the police started to improve.
Around the same time, in 2014, Russia invaded Crimea and other oblasts, followed by a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The NPU not only had to deal with normal public safety and crimes, but now was forced to operate under and respond to constant shelling, and foreign troops laying siege to the population. The NPU had to dedicate hundreds of officers to investigating atrocities and war crimes as Russian forces murdered Ukrainian citizens and the discovery of mass graves and torture chambers became common. Many police officers volunteered for military service, decimating the ranks. Police brigades are rotated to the front lines, including to conduct demining, and enforce laws in liberated territories. Police officers are routinely killed while responding to emergencies and defending citizens. The NPU continues to address these challenges while also providing police services, maintaining the morale of officers, and reforming policing as an institution.