Militsiya and political repression in Soviet Ukraine

MVS of the Ukrainian SSR has been directly involved in Soviet political repressions in Ukraine at all stages. Since the splitting of the NKVD and detachment of the secret police to the MGB-KGB, the militsiya became a secondary instrument of repression in the hands of the KGB, fulfilling such tasks as:

• conducting fabricated charges of non-political crimes against Ukrainian dissidents (like Vyacheslav Chornovil)
• tackling occasional mass protests against Soviet rule
• maintaining the propiska regime
• participation in ethnic-related repressions and restrictions
• assisting in the persecution of religion
• direct persecution of homosexuals and various restricted cultural movements (like rockers, punks, bikers, karate students etc.) ^{[citation needed]}

Post-Independence reformation and the Gongadze case

After independence in 1991, and before the 2004 Constitutional Reform, Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs was directly subordinate to the President of Ukraine (appointed by the President unilaterally), also a formal member of Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers. Before the Orange Revolution, only Generals of the militsiya (not civil statesmen), were appointed Ministers.

During its existence, the Ukrainian militsiya, particularly the post-independence form of the militsiya, had a significant record of law violation and human rights abuse. One of the most notorious cases of human rights abuse, before the agency’s later involvement in Euromaidan in 2013-2014, was the agency's involvement in the murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze in 2000. Soon after Gongadze's disappearance, recordings of a Major Melnychenko were revealed.

A fragment of the recorded conversations portrayed MVS Minister Kravchenko promising President Kuchma to "take care" of the oppositional journalist. According to the recordings, Kravchenko told Kuchma that he controls a special group of high-class detectives "without any morals, and ready to do anything".

The decapitated and disfigured body of Gongadze was found later in a forest, and a long-lasting investigation started. In 2005, soon after the Orange Revolution, the first results of the case appeared. Three members of the MVS detective squad were charged with the abduction and murder of Gongadze. An international warrant was issued for their chief, General Oleksiy Pukach, who was supposedly hiding abroad.^[8]

In March 2005, ex-Minister Kravchenko, the main participant of the case, was found shot in the head (supposedly by his own hand). Later, in September 2010, Ukraine's Office of the Prosecutor General issued a statement stating that prosecutors had concluded that Kravchenko had ordered Pukach to carry out the murder, and stating that Pukach had confessed to the murder.^[8]

In the Melnychen recordings, the hitmen group was called "orly” (Ukrainian: орли, literally "eagles", Russian: орлы) by the Minister. (Note: Orly here it is not a proper name, but a traditional Russian common name for brave and skilful soldiers). Since then, the phrase "Orly of Kravchenko", became a symbol of lawlessness and brutality in Ukrainian law enforcement.

MVS and the UBK campaign

In 2000-2001, the MVS was trying to tackle the Ukraine without Kuchma (Ukrainian and Russian abbreviation: UBK) mass protest campaign against President Leonid Kuchma, using various methods: from direct attacks to the infiltration of provocateurs. The final confrontation took place on 9 March 2001 on the central streets of Kyiv, including clashes between protesters and anti-riot units, and mass arrests of youngsters in the city.

MVS during the Orange Revolution and later years

During the 2004 election and the Orange Revolution, the MVS did not confront the opposition protests, although media sources claim that respective orders were given to its anti-riot units by senior commanders and leaders of the country. Minor clashes between protesters and the Berkut happened in the city of Chernihiv, but both sides agreed that they were incidental and provoked by unknown forces. The opposition also accused the militsiya of involvement in attempted electoral fraud that occurred at polling stations.

In February 2005, after the revolution, as part of the post-election democratic changes, President Viktor Yushchenko appointed Yuriy Lutsenko as the new Minister of Internal Affairs. Unlike his predecessors, Lutsenko was a career politician and had never served in the militsiya or any other law enforcement agency. Moreover, as one of the main figures in the Socialist Party of Ukraine, Lutsenko participated in several protest campaigns and conflicts with the militsiya. The new minister demanded resignations from those officers involved in racketeering. Thus, taking a significant step towards the establishment of civil control over the Ukrainian militia.

In January 2006, Minister Lutsenko admitted that the MVS is in possession of the evidence that would allow them to question and charge ex-President Leonid Kuchma in a privatisation wrongdoing case, if only the MVS had the authority for starting such a case autonomously. Later, according to 2004 constitutional amendments that took effect after the 2006 parliamentary elections, the minister is now nominated by the Prime Minister and appointed by the Verkhovna Rada (parliament), without formal influence of the President. Thus Yuriy Lutsenko, the Minister at the time, who was previously appointed under the old procedure, was reappointed, thereby becoming the first-ever MVS Minister to be agreed upon by the parliamentary coalition and appointed by parliament.

On 1 December 2006, Verkhovna Rada dismissed Lutsenko and appointed Vasyl Tsushko of the Socialist Party as the new Minister. Like his predecessor, Tsushko was also a civil politician (and previously a vineyard manager), not connected to the militsiya before his appointment. Additionally, Tsushko was the first-ever MVS Minister not subordinated to the President.

However, in 2007 Lutsenko returned to the post of minister and remained there until the elections which brought Viktor Yanukovich to power in 2010. After Yanukovich's election, Anatolii Mohyliov was appointed to the minister's position; he is a career militia officer and currently holds the rank of Colonel General of the militsiya. Vitaliy Zakharchenko succeeded him in November 2011.

In May 2007, the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine lead to a jurisdiction dispute over the country's Internal Troops. Following minor political clashes involving the militsiya and presidential security forces, President Viktor Yuschenko issued a decree re-subordinating Internal Troops from the Ministry of Internal Affairs directly to the President. The MVS criticised both the decree and the subsequent troop movements.

Both sides in the political crisis managed to avoid further clashes between law enforcers. Now the Internal Troops, as well as all militsiya units, returned to their routine tasks and re-established practical co-ordination. However, the legal dispute over Internal Troops remains unsolved. The Troops command declares its subordination to the President - according to the decree which is currently being appealed in court by the Cabinet of Ministers.

On 10 October 2008 officers from the Security Service of Ukraine detained deputy platoon commander of the Kharkiv city division patrol and inspection service regiment of the Main Interior Affairs Ministry Directorate in Kharkiv region on suspicion of pushing narcotic drugs.^[9]

According to head of the trade union of attested employees of law enforcement agencies Anatolii Onyschuk, sociologic research shows that 3.9% of the Ukrainian militiamen trust the state, while 67.7% distrusted the state.^[9]

2015 disbandment

Following reforms initiated by Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, on 3 July 2015 the National Police of Ukraine started to replace militsiya.^[4] Officially the National Police replaced the militsiya on 7 November 2015.^[2] On that day the remaining militsiya officers where assigned as "temporarily acting" National Police officers.^[2] They were eligible for recruitment as National Police officers if they met the age criteria and went through training again and after "integrity" checks.^[2][10]