Long lines are being reported: passenger traffic across the Ukrainian border has increased significantly
29 June 04:12
Passenger traffic across Ukraine’s western border increased by another 6.4% during the week of June 20–26, reaching 684,000; with the growth driven primarily by the flow of travelers entering Ukraine, according to statistics from the State Border Service, as reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" citing “Interfax-Ukraine.”
According to the data, while the number of outbound border crossings rose to 351,000 from 345,000 the previous week, the number of inbound crossings rose to 333,000 from 298,000.
The number of vehicles passing through border checkpoints rose slightly this week—to 134,000 from 133,000 last week—while the number of vehicles carrying humanitarian cargo fell to 439 from 480.
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According to the State Border Guard Service, as of 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, the largest number of passenger cars—60—were waiting to cross the border with Poland at the “Ustyluh” checkpoint. There was also a small line at the “Krakivets” checkpoint—10 vehicles.
At the border with Hungary, 20 vehicles were waiting to cross at the “Luzhanka” checkpoint, while 5 were waiting at the “Tisa” checkpoint.
At the border with Slovakia, there was a line of 20 cars at the “Uzhhorod” checkpoint; at the border with Romania, only the “Dyakove” checkpoint had a line of 10 cars, while there were no lines at the border with Moldova.
Meanwhile, on Sunday afternoon, the State Border Guard Service warned of heavy congestion at two checkpoints for entry into Ukraine from Poland: “Krakivets” – 200 cars and 15 buses; “Shehyni” – 100 cars and 12 buses
Last year, passenger traffic across the border during this week was slightly lower—678,000—and, similarly, the outbound flow still exceeded the inbound flow—358,000 versus 320,000, respectively. The number of cars last year was also slightly higher—137,000. Last year, the further growth in passenger traffic continued for another week and amounted to 10.3%, after which it remained at that level until early September.
As reported, starting May 10, 2022, the outflow of refugees from Ukraine—which began with the start of the war—was replaced by an inflow that lasted until September 23, 2022, totaling 409,000 people. However, starting in late September—possibly influenced by news of mobilization in Russia and “pseudo-referendums” in the occupied territories, followed by massive shelling of energy infrastructure—the number of people leaving exceeded the number of those entering. In total, from the end of September 2022 until the first anniversary of the full-scale war, this figure reached 223,000 people.
During the second year of the full-scale war, the number of border crossings out of Ukraine, according to the State Border Guard Service, exceeded the number of crossings into the country by 25,000, in the third year—by 187,000, in the fourth—by 221,000, and since the start of the fifth year—by 190,000, of which 177,000 have occurred since the start of summer.
In its April inflation report, the National Bank maintained its estimate of 0.2 million people migrating from Ukraine last year due to the deterioration of the security situation at the end of the year and the easing of exit rules for young people, but noted that this figure will be less than 0.5 million in 2024. The NBU continues to forecast a net outflow of 0.2 million in 2026, while net returns, according to its forecast, will begin in 2027 and amount to about 0.1 million people, and will increase to 0.5 million people in 2028.
According to UNHCR data, the number of Ukrainian refugees in Europe as of April 30, 2026, stood at 5.213 million, and 5.762 million worldwide, compared to 5.375 million and 5.924 million, respectively, as of February 19.
In Ukraine itself, according to the latest UN data for January 2026, there were 3.70 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), compared to 3.34 million in July and 3.76 million in April 2025.
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