Police between the front and the rear: while they are criticized, they fight and fight crime
In social networks and on the streets, there are more and more complaints against the police: “Why aren’t they at the front?”, “They should be sent to fight, because they are security forces!”, and along with this – a wave of negativity about their work in the rear. Many sincerely believe that the police simply “sit” in the cities while the military risk their lives on the front lines. But few people think about what will happen if these words really come true. What will happen when in a war-torn country there are no people left who stand between society and crime every day? Will the front alone be enough to keep the state from chaos? At the same time, thousands of police officers today fight on an equal footing with the military – as part of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, and special forces, performing the same combat tasks, risking their lives and losing their comrades. But this is conveniently forgotten by those who see the war only through the phone screen. It is the “couch of critics”! Because those who are really fighting know very well that law enforcement officers stand side by side with them in the trenches, under fire and during assaults.
The police are in the rear
The police in the rear is currently one of the most discussed and at the same time the most underestimated topics in society. Indignant comments that the police should be fighting, not sitting in the cities, regularly appear on social networks. Often these words sound on emotions, without understanding what consequences it will have for the country. But it is worth imagining for a moment: what will happen if all the policemen really go to the front?
Many people for some reason think that the war is fought only on the front lines. But the rear is not only volunteers and business, it is also a law enforcement system that keeps the state from collapsing from within. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the role of the police has changed forever. Law enforcement officers risk their lives every day in frontline cities, evacuating people, clearing areas, identifying saboteurs, eliminating the consequences of shelling, and ensuring law and order under martial law. It is the police who document and investigate war crimes, catch looters and collaborators, patrol and maintain order in cities, when the army protects the country from an external enemy, and ultimately, prevents crime from taking over at the moment when the country is most vulnerable.
Patrolmen, investigators, operatives, forensic experts, dog experts, explosives experts, employees of the criminal investigation, cyber police, anti-narcotics departments – this whole system does not just work in the rear, but every day maintains order in a country at war. Without the police, real chaos will begin on the streets: robberies, looting, raiding, uncontrolled circulation of weapons and drugs, and an increase in the level of violent crimes. After all, it is common knowledge that during a war, the criminogenic situation worsens many times, and its control should be monitored by professionals.
As of February 2024, investigators of the National Police documented more than 113 thousand war crimes of the Russian army. But they not only document crimes, but also prevent new tragedies. Law enforcement officers exposed 129 sabotage and intelligence groups and detained more than 2,400 people suspected of collaborating with the enemy. They work in liberated cities and villages, clearing the territories of enemy agents and traitors who can pass information to the occupiers.
The evacuation of the civilian population from hot spots is a particularly dangerous and important mission of the police. For example, thanks to the work of the “White Angels” units, it was possible to save about 10,000 people, of which more than 2,200 were children. In addition to these units, other policemen also go into destroyed houses under constant fire, persuade people to leave, help the wounded and take out those who cannot move on their own.
In addition, the National Police also performs a wide range of tasks in the rear: combating the illegal trafficking of weapons and drugs, conducting stabilization measures in liberated territories, identifying collaborators, patrolling checkpoints and ensuring demining. Only thanks to their work, chaos does not reign in the cities, and people have protection even in the most difficult times.
Over time, statistics gradually change in the direction of growth, and as of June 2024, 120,962 criminal proceedings have been initiated for crimes committed by Russian military personnel on the territory of Ukraine. This is evidenced the data National Police of Ukraine. The absolute majority of these crimes are brutal violations of the laws and customs of war. According to Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the police registered 105,639 criminal proceedings. These are murders of civilians, torture, rape, deportation of people, shelling of residential areas, hospitals, educational institutions, torture and kidnapping. All this is documented evidence of war crimes, which will become key materials for international tribunals.
Another 9,277 criminal proceedings were opened by the police under Article 110 of the Criminal Code – encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine. It is about the seizure of territories, illegal annexation, establishment of occupying power and attempts to legitimize the occupation. At the same time, 4,060 cases of collaborative activity are being investigated separately (Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code). These are those who went over to the side of the enemy, help the occupiers manage captured cities and villages, participate in deportations, transmit information or directly support the criminal actions of the Russian army. Also, 261 facts of state treason were documented (Article 111 of the Criminal Code). This is the most serious crime against the state, and its participants were citizens of Ukraine who collaborated with the enemy and acted contrary to national interests.
The dynamics of investigations shows a clear trend towards an increase in the number of documented facts of criminal activity. Every day, law enforcement officers receive new testimonies, find evidence, record fresh war crimes in the newly de-occupied territories. And these are not just statistics that critics should know, but the daily fight against crime in the conditions of war. Despite the acute shortage of employees, the police investigates not only war crimes, but also murders, exposes organized criminal groups that try to use wartime for their own interests. Also, law enforcement officers continue to solve robberies, thefts, robberies, because the war did not abolish criminal crimes, but on the contrary, it created even more opportunities for criminals.
So, while the country is at war, the police are forced to fight on another front – against domestic criminals. And if someone thinks that the police “does nothing”, then it is worth looking at the statistics provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs: in 2024, 1,043 murders, 11 contract murders, 33 explosions of grenades and improvised devices, 183 shootings with firearms, 435 crimes using knives and other types of cold weapons. This is the reality in which law enforcement officers work every day.
Police at the front
However, today the National Police of Ukraine does not just perform its traditional functions – it fights side by side with the military on the front lines. It ceased to be only a law enforcement agency in the classical sense of the word. In 2014, the police were among the first to go to the east as part of volunteer units, performing combat tasks, and not just maintaining order in the frontline cities. They fought near Ilovaisk, Uglehirsk, and when hostilities temporarily went into a less active phase, many returned to their main duties. However, the full-scale invasion of 2022 changed everything again and the police resumed their military activities.
For example, in Volyn, a joint battalion “West” was formed, and already in May 2022 it was in the east. His fighters used mortars, worked in aerial reconnaissance, launched FPV drones, destroyed the enemy on a par with the military. The unit constantly underwent rotations, and hundreds of police officers went through combat experience in its composition.
However, the most significant moment was the appearance in 2023 of the new “Rage” assault brigade. It united both police officers and civilians who wanted to fight as part of the security forces. Since then, the unit has participated in the hottest battles, fought in the east, lost its people and proved that the Ukrainian police is more than just a law enforcement structure. Its fighters storm enemy positions, work in intelligence, control drones, perform complex combat tasks and pay a very high price for it. Together with them, the combined brigade “Predator” – the rifle brigade of the Patrol Police Department, and the newly created combined brigade of special purpose police units of the KORD are fighting on the front lines. These units participate in combat operations, counterattacks and assaults, destroying the enemy and holding positions.
Rifle battalions were created in parallel with front-line units in each regional police department. All of their fighters have undergone training, received military training and are ready to perform combat missions if necessary. Some of them fight, others remain in reserve, but at any moment they can go to the front. This is another component of the combat potential of the police, which many do not know or prefer not to talk about.
According to the Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko, there are currently 40,000-45,000 police officers working in the most dangerous areas of the front and participating in complex military operations in the combat zone and near-front regions. Combat units of the police suffer heavy losses, security forces are wounded, undergo rehabilitation and return to the front again, because the war continues and their work is not yet finished.
In addition, many veterans of the Ministry of Internal Affairs volunteered to join the Armed Forces, National Guard and assault units from the first days of the full-scale invasion, without waiting for summons or official orders. They have been fighting for almost three years, passing through the hottest points, performing difficult combat tasks, dying, getting wounded, but almost no one talks about them. There are also those veterans for whom the war became not only a struggle for the country, but also a common front with their own sons – law enforcement officers. They now stand beside them in the trenches, passing on not only their experience, but also the fortitude that unites generations of defenders. They don’t do PR, they don’t shoot staged videos about their exploits, they don’t write pathetic posts on social networks like politicians, they don’t use war as a way to get political dividends. These heroic people are just fighting and doing their job as they did in peacetime – professionally, quietly and efficiently. That is why society needs to know about their contribution to this war, although without them many battles could have had a completely different outcome.
It is also very important to remember that in the first thirteen days of the large-scale war, twenty-two police officers were killed at once, and in the first two weeks there were eighty-eight seriously wounded, seven missing, three captured. And this was only the beginning of the war. Then, unfortunately, much more… Hundreds of policemen died while performing combat missions, evacuating civilians, covering their own, pulling people out from under the rubble after rocket attacks. They died at roadblocks, being the first to meet the enemy. They die while pulling out their wounded comrades, some – covering their own in retreat. Some of them went missing in the occupied cities, and their relatives are still waiting for some news. It is difficult to calculate their losses, because new names are added every day. There are currently no exact figures, but it is easy to imagine how many of them will not return home. And while the dead soldiers are talked about, they are remembered, the whole country knows about them, the dead policemen are often left out of the public’s attention.
At the same time, “strange critics” do not know that during the war years, many policemen received high state awards and a number of them – the title of “Hero of Ukraine” – the highest state recognition for exceptional courage and self-sacrifice. This confirms that their contribution to the defense of the country is invaluable, and their service is no less important than that of the military.
Despite this, voices are still heard in society that “policemen do not fight.” This statement is not only false, it is insulting to those who are currently in the trenches, in assault positions, or away for treatment after injuries. The work of the police has always been the subject of criticism, and it is often well-founded. Problems in the law enforcement system had been accumulating for years, and the war only exacerbated them. Yes, there are those who disgrace the profession, as in any other field. But there are many others – those who risk their lives every day in the fight against crime, who defend us at the front, who help the victims and evacuate people. And when someone cries that “the police are not fighting” or “everyone should be sent to the front”, they should at least for a moment imagine the consequences of such a decision.
If all the policemen go to the front, real chaos will begin in the rear. Uncontrolled arms circulation, gangs settling disputes with assault rifles, broad daylight looting, unpunished killings and unaccountable disappearances. The investigation system will be shut down, the investigation will simply cease to exist, and the criminal world will have complete freedom of action. Drug dealers, swindlers, robbers – everyone who is now even a little restrained will come out of the shadows, because there will be no one to catch them. There will be no calls, court cases will hang in the air, and crimes will go unpunished. Then those who shouted that “the police do not fight” will be the first to ask: “And where are the law enforcement officers? Why are they not there when they are so needed?”. But it will be too late, because law and order does not maintain itself.
This is the whole absurdity of the situation. People are used to taking the work of law enforcement officers for granted, but they do not realize that without them the country will simply sink into anarchy. Currently, the police is more than a law enforcement agency, it is another combat unit that, together with the army, stands in defense of the state. At the same time, it fights both in the rear and on the front lines. Therefore, before throwing around meaningless words, it is worth finally deciding: do you want them all to go to the front, or for someone else to ensure order in the rear? Because if the police really disappear from the streets, then there will be no point in asking where they went.
The contribution of police officers and veterans of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to this war and public safety cannot be underestimated. Therefore, any general criticism against them is either from misunderstanding or from a conscious unwillingness to see reality. They fight and die while someone gives advice on what they should have done. If there is still security in the country, it is because the law enforcement officers hold the country on their shoulders and they should be respected.
Oksana Ishchenko
