The History of the Formation and Development of the National Academy of Internal Affairs

Over its 105-year history, the National Academy of Internal Affairs has rightfully become the flagship of departmental education. Time has passed, and the institution’s name has changed, but one thing has remained constant—its prestige.

The history of the Academy’s formation dates back to June 11, 1921, when local police training courses for the Kharkiv Provincial Militia began operating. It was this date that became the founding date of the National Academy of Internal Affairs.

A year later, the School for Senior Command Personnel of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Militia of the Ukrainian SSR was established on the basis of these courses. At a meeting of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR on December 25, 1922, it was decided to reorganize the police school into an All-Ukrainian school and place it under state funding. Based on this decision, the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs carried out the necessary organizational measures throughout 1923, and by an order of the USSR Ministry of Militia and Criminal Investigation dated October 23, 1923, the educational institution was renamed the All-Ukrainian School of Militia and Criminal Investigation. Thus, the educational institution acquired republican status and began training senior command personnel for police agencies throughout Ukraine.

In 1925, the All-Ukrainian School was relocated from Kharkiv to Kyiv. A resolution of the Presidium of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee of the Ukrainian SSR dated April 1, 1925, stated the following on this matter: “Propose that the NKVD, within one week, prepare a plan for the relocation of the All-Ukrainian School for Police Command and Criminal Investigation to one of the nearest provincial cities in Ukraine.” The choice fell on Kyiv. A report on the activities of the NKVD of the Ukrainian SSR in 1924–1925 states: “As of October 1, 1925, due to the housing crisis in Kharkiv and in accordance with a resolution of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee, the School was transferred to Kyiv.” In Kyiv, premises were allocated for the All-Ukrainian Police School on Batyeva Hill (today, this is the site of Secondary School No. 60). In 1936, the educational institution was renamed the School for Senior Command Staff of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Militia. On the occasion of its 15th anniversary, a parade of the school’s personnel was held on Sofiyskaya Square. A year later, the institution was renamed the “Kyiv School for the Advanced Training of Senior Officers of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Militia.” The school operated under this name until the summer of 1941.

At the end of World War II, the school resumed its operations. Given the conditions of wartime, the institution trained specialists for various services that maintained public order in territories liberated from the invaders, worked with prisoners of war, restored transportation services, and so on. Subsequently, it underwent a series of reorganizations and name changes.

By order of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs dated August 20, 1956, the Kyiv Special Secondary School of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs was established, which began training specialists for the main police services with a two-year program (three years for the correspondence division). The school was housed in the building of the Fire and Technical School, which had been built in the postwar years according to a design by architect O. A. Pleshkov and had subsequently been relocated to Lviv.

In 1957, a correspondence division of the Higher School of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs was established on its premises, and in 1958—the Kyiv branch of the Higher School of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs—pursuant to an order of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs dated March 21, 1958.

On April 11, 1960, a government resolution was adopted to establish the Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR by merging the branch of the Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR with the Kyiv Special Secondary School of Militia.

In 1962, the name of the educational institution changed slightly, which was due to a change in the name of the Ministry. The school came to be known as the Higher School of the Ministry of Public Order of the Ukrainian SSR.

In 1966, due to changes in the Ministry’s structure, the school was placed directly under the authority of the Union Ministry and was renamed the Kyiv Higher School of the Ministry of Public Order of the USSR. Beginning in 1968, the institution was known as the Kyiv Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR.

Following the country’s independence, in accordance with a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated January 27, 1992, the Ukrainian Academy of Internal Affairs was established on the basis of the Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR and the Kyiv branch of the All-Union Institute for the Advanced Training of Senior Officials of Correctional and Labor Institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. In December 1996, by a decree of the President of Ukraine, it was granted national status and became known as the National Academy of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. In 1997, the academy received Level IV (the highest) accreditation.

In September 2005, the National Academy of Internal Affairs of Ukraine was reorganized into a university—the Kyiv National University of Internal Affairs. Its status as a national university was confirmed by the Decree of the President of Ukraine “On Preserving the Status of Certain Higher Education Institutions as National Institutions” dated September 15, 2005.

By Decree No. 1709-r of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated August 27, 2010, “On the Reorganization of Certain Higher Educational Institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs,” the Kyiv National University of Internal Affairs was reorganized into the National Academy of Internal Affairs. By Decree of the President of Ukraine “On the National Academy of Internal Affairs” No. 887/2010 dated August 31, 2010, the institution retained its status as a national institution.

Over the years of its existence as a higher education institution, tens of thousands of its graduates have left its walls to join the ranks of law enforcement in Ukraine and other countries. Many of them have gone on to lead senior management bodies and attained high officer ranks. Over the years, its alumni have included future generals, Ukraine’s ministers of internal affairs, deputy ministers, heads of ministry departments, heads of the Main Directorates of the National Police, and heads of institutions of higher education. In total, more than 180 graduates of the academy have become generals. Thousands of graduates have become heads of city and district departments and divisions of the Main Directorate of the National Police of Ukraine and its structural units.

In 2026, the academy solemnly celebrated its 105th anniversary, taking justifiable pride in its achievements, which have been recognized at the highest state level.

Today, a significant number of the Academy’s staff and alumni serve in the ranks of Ukraine’s Security and Defense Sector, defending the country, and the work of the entire team—numbering in the thousands—is carried out in accordance with wartime requirements.