Poland records a tenfold increase in the number of young men who entered from Ukraine
12 September 2025 08:08
While the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine “does not keep statistics,” Polish border guards record a tenfold increase in the number of Ukrainian men aged 18-22 entering Poland. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to RMF 24.
Thus, according to official data from the Bieszczady Department of the Polish Border Guard, from August 28 to September 3, 6.1 thousand Ukrainians aged 18-22 entered the country through the Carpathian checkpoints. For comparison, a week earlier, the number was only about 500. Thus, the number of relevant crossings at these areas has increased twelvefold.
Similar dynamics were recorded at the border in Lubelskie Voivodeship. During the same week from the end of August, 4605 Ukrainians aged 18-22 entered Poland, while a week earlier, only 461 entered. The increase is tenfold.
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Ukraine “does not see”
The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, meanwhile, stated that they do not keep separate statistics on the departure of men of this particular age group. Instead, they noted that their number has not increased significantly.
Nevertheless, numerous videos on the Internet showed long lines of several hundred meters of such men at border crossing points in the first days after the permission to leave.
The official position of the state is adhered to even in the Ukrainian emigration in Poland. The head of the Przemyśl branch of the Association of Ukrainians in Poland, Ihor Horkiv, confirmed that young Ukrainians have recently been seen at the train station in Przemyśl, but assured that it is not a case of mass emigration.
“This group is noticeable, but it is not a mass emigration. Young Ukrainians turn to our volunteers mostly with organizational issues, such as where to buy a ticket. They do not ask about social assistance or other types of support,”
– he emphasized.
According to him, some young people may come to Poland to study or for short-term trips, but it is difficult to predict whether this will become a sustainable trend. He recalled that even before the war and the covid quarantine, many Ukrainians chose Poland to get their education.
Changes to the rules for leaving Ukraine
In late August, Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko announced a change in the rules for crossing the state border: now men aged 18 to 22 are allowed to travel outside the country. This is an important innovation, as since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, all men between the ages of 18 and 60 have been banned from leaving Ukraine, with some exceptions for parents with many children, people with disabilities, humanitarian aid drivers or volunteers, and anyone with special permits.
This ban is so strict that Ukrainian border guards have shot at male fugitives trying to “illegally cross the border.”
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