# State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus

The State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus, GPK (Belarusian: Дзяржаўны пагранічны камітэт Рэспублікі Беларусь, ДПК; Russian: Государственный пограничный комитет Республики Беларусь, ГПК) manages the international borders of Belarus. Its armed paramilitary force is known as the Border Guard Service (Belarusian: Пагранічная служба Беларусі; Russian: Пограничная служба Беларуси), It carries out committee orders and policy. The primary tasks of the State Border Committee include: border policy and enhancing border security.
The service covers the borders with Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

## History

The Border Committee was created by decree of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Belarus on September 20, 1991. To manage the border units and subunits, the General Directorate of the Border Troops (Russian: Главное управление пограничных войск was established by order of the Supreme Soviet on January 15, 1992 under the Council of Ministers. To create a legal basis for their activities, the Supreme Council adopted Law No. 1908-XII “On the State Border of the Republic of Belarus”, and Law No. 1911-XII “On the Border Troops of the Republic of Belarus” on November 4–5, 1992. On August 19, 1993, a law was adopted by the Council of Ministers decree on the official creation of the Border Troops of Belarus. Between 1994 and 1997, the first border units were formed/deployed and agreements were made between Belarus' neighbors on cooperation between the border troops of Belarus and neighboring countries. On 11 January 1997, President Lukashenko signed decree renaming the General Directorate to State Committee of the Border Troops. In a September 2007 decree, President Alexander Lukashenko renamed the Border Troops of Belarus to the Border Service.
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.
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, the United States and Canada on December 2, 2021. Switzerland joined the EU sanctions on December 20.

## Structure

The Border Service of Belarus has 14 territorial units under its control:
| Unit | Founded | Notes | Website |
| Brest Border Group | | Named after Felix Dzerzhinsky. | https://tops.gpk.gov.by/brest/ |
| Lida Border Group | | | |
| Smorgon Border Group | | | |
| Grodno Border Group | | | |
| Gomel Border Group | | | |
| Pinsk Border Detachment | | | |
| Polotsk Border Detachment | | | |
| Mozyr Border Detachment | | | |
| Border Control Detachment "Minsk" | 1945 | It serves Minsk National Airport. | https://tops.gpk.gov.by/opogk/ |
| Dzerzhinsk Logistics Group | 2007 | | https://tops.gpk.gov.by/gmto/komandovanie/ |
| Communications and Support Group | 2014 | | https://tops.gpk.gov.by/2007/ |
| Border Guard Service Institute | 1993 | | |
| Border Guard Military Hospital | | | |

## Leadership
### Chairmen

| Chief of the General Directorate of Border Troops | Leader | Term of office | Term of office |
| Chief of the General Directorate of Border Troops | Leader | Took office | Left office |
| Yevgeny Bocharov | Stanislav Shushkevich Alexander Lukashenko | February 19, 1992 | August 30, 1994 |
| Vasily Morkovkin | Alexander Lukashenko | September 26, 1994 | September 4, 1996 |
| Alexander Pavlovsky | Alexander Lukashenko | September 4, 1996 | January 13, 1997 |
| Chairman of the State Committee of the Border Troops | Leader | Term of office | Term of office |
| Chairman of the State Committee of the Border Troops | Leader | Took office | Left office |
| Alexander Pavlovsky | Alexander Lukashenko | January 13, 1997 | April 10, 2007 |
| Igor Rachkovsky | Alexander Lukashenko | April 10, 2007 | September 27, 2007 |
| Chairman of the State Border Committee | Leader | Term of office | Term of office |
| Chairman of the State Border Committee | Leader | Took office | Left office |
| Igor Rachkovsky | Alexander Lukashenko | September 27, 2007 | July 31, 2012 |
| Alexander Boechko | Alexander Lukashenko | August 2, 2012 | November 2, 2013 |
| Leonid Maltsev | Alexander Lukashenko | November 2, 2013 | December 27, 2016 |
| Anatoly Lappo | Alexander Lukashenko | December 27, 2016 | May 30, 2023 |
| Konstantin Molostov [ru] | May 30, 2023 | Present |

### First Deputy Chairman

| Name | Term of office | Term of office |
| Name | Took office | Left office |
| Alexander Popov | October 31, 1994 | July 14, 1996 |
| Evgeny Kovalev | September 24, 1996 | June 9, 2006 |
| Vadim Zaitsev | April 10, 2007 | July 15, 2008 |
| Andrey Gorulko | August 29, 2008 | August 2, 2012 |
| Alexey Zagorodniy | August 2, 2012 | April 12, 2013 |
| Igor Butkevich | April 12, 2013 | Present |