OSCE pilot initiative helps freshly trained Ukrainian border guards deliver first document security training for peers at border crossing points

An OSCE pilot ‘train-the-trainers’ initiative is helping freshly trained Ukrainian border guards test their skills as trainers in document security at border crossing points. This initiative was part of a two-week training course in Lviv organized by the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, in co-operation with the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, from 11 to 12 August 2025.

The hands-on training, delivered by six of the newly qualified trainers who completed last week’s OSCE-led Training of Trainers course in Lviv, Ukraine, marked the first time this initiative has provided instruction directly at border crossing points. Two trainers, while mentored and observed by OSCE personnel, deployed to Rava-Ruska border crossing point (BCP) at the Ukrainian-Polish border to conduct training. Four additional trainers concurrently deployed to different BCPs in Odesa region, including Odesa and Izmail Sea Ports and Mohyliv-Podilsky and Palanca BCPs at the Ukrainian-Moldovan border to train their peers.

The new trainers developed and delivered presentations on key topics from the basic training curriculum in document security and forgery detection. They also used OSCE-provided magnifiers to help their trainees deepen their hands-on experience with examining genuine, forged, and counterfeit travel documents.

The pilot initiative was developed in response to a request by the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service to trial run a train-the-trainers approach similar to the Dutch model they observed during an OSCE-supported study visit to the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee’s Identity Fraud and Documents Centre of Expertise (ECID) in April 2025. The Dutch model involves a two-week training course where the second week is dedicated to the trainers-in-training applying their newly learned skills to lead five full days of basic training for their peers.  

Senior Administration officers highlighted the importance of this training program development. “Conducting a training session directly at the border crossing point serves as a logical continuation of the study visit to the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee’s Identity Fraud and Document Centre of Expertise (ECID). This is an example of how the experience gained through the support of the OSCE Secretariat’s Transnational Threats Department is being translated into practical skills applied directly during border control operations by Ukrainian border guards. Such trainings are important for enhancing the professional competence of the personnel of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and for integrating European border control standards into its daily operations.”

The pilot initiative and training course were part of an ongoing extrabudgetary project supporting the OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation in reducing illegal border crossings by using a fake or stolen identity. This project is funded by the United States.