State Emergency Service of Ukraine

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine (Державна служба України з надзвичайних ситуацій), until December 24, 2012 named the Ministry of Emergencies of Ukraine (Міністерство надзвичайних ситуацій України) is the main executive body tasked with carrying out state policy in the spheres of civil defence, rescue, creating and managing the system of insurance fund documentation, utilization of radioactive wastes, protection of population and territory in emergency situations, emergency prevention and response, liquidation in the aftermath, and the Chernobyl catastrophe. They represent Ukraine's sole fire & rescue service.

It is abbreviated as ДСНС [України]. It also directly administers the zone of alienation located just north of Kyiv.

Under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the agency's motto is "To prevent. To rescue. To help." (Запобігти. Врятувати. Допомогти)

History
The former ministry was created in 1996 with the merger of the state civil defense body and the Ukrainian ministry in charge of protecting the population from the consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe. Until 1991, the latter was a state committee of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR, while state civil defense was part of the USSR's All-Union civil defense network.

In 2003, the ministry took over control of the firefighting service, previously under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (militsiya). The ministry had been part of the military reserve of the Ukrainian armed forces, but after the 2003 reform and fire services merger, all militarized formations were dissolved, and in 2005, the agency became officially non-military and focused on rescue services.

Until the administrative reform of December 9, 2010, the body was called Ministry of Ukraine in emergencies and the protection of the population from the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. After the reform, three major central executive power bodies were directly subordinated to it:
 * State service of mining supervision and industrial safety of Ukraine (Державна служба гірничого нагляду та промислової безпеки України, Russian: Державна служба гірничого нагляду та промислової безпеки України)
 * State agency of Ukraine of the administration of the zone of alienation (Державне агентство України з управління зоною відчуження, Russian: Государственное агентство Украины по управлению зоной отчуждения)
 * State inspection of technogenic safety of Ukraine (Державна інспекція техногенної безпеки України, Russian: Государственная инспекция техногенной безопасности Украины)
 * Other agencies
 * State department of fire-prevention security (see firefighting)
 * State search and rescue aviation service: Ukraviaposhuk
 * State hydro-meteorological service
 * State department of the insurance documentation fund of the Ministry

On December 24, 2012, the Ministry of Emergencies of Ukraine was transformed into the State Emergency Service and placed under jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defence. On 25 April 2014, the service was transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Main body

 * Central Bureau of Emergency Situations

Specialized formations

 * State militarized mining rescue brigade (Kryvyi Rih)
 * Dnipro militarized mining rescue brigade

Other agencies

 * Ukrainian Hydro-meteorological Center
 * Ukrainian Aviation Meteorological Center
 * Main Aviation Coordination Center of search and rescue
 * "Rescuer"-Inform Information Analytical Center
 * Center of Civil Security 112
 * Mobile Rescue Center (Kyiv)
 * Odesa Sanatorium (Odesa)

State Emergency Service Aviation
The Special Aviation Unit and Operational Rescue Service of the State Emergency Service (Спеціальний авіаційний загін оперативно-рятувальної служби цивільного захисту) is based in the city of Nizhyn.

The Special Aviation Unit can work independently or in cooperation with other State Emergency Service units to protect population and territory, material and cultural values and the environment during emergencies, especially for work performed under difficult conditions.