Passenger traffic across Ukraine’s western border during the week of July 4–10 increased by another 1.2%—to 734,000—following a 6.0% increase the previous week, with inbound and outbound flows nearly balancing out, according to daily statistics from the State Border Guard Service monitored by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
According to this data, while the number of outbound border crossings rose to 365,000 from 348,000 the previous week, the number of inbound crossings fell to 369,000 from 377,000.
The number of vehicles passing through border checkpoints also rose this week—to 139,000 from 138,000 the previous week—while the number of vehicles carrying humanitarian cargo fell to 371 from 434.
According to the State Border Guard Service, as of 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, the largest number of passenger cars—40—were waiting to cross the border with Poland at the “Krakovets” checkpoint. Smaller lines were observed at the “Ustyluh” checkpoint (35 vehicles), the “Hrushev” checkpoint (20 vehicles), the “Nyzhankovychi” checkpoint (15 vehicles), and the “Shehyni” checkpoint (10 vehicles).
At the border with Hungary, 30 vehicles were waiting to cross at the “Luzhanka” checkpoint, while 25 were waiting at the “Kosyno” checkpoint, 20 at the “Tisa” checkpoint, and 15 at the “Dzvinkovo” checkpoint.
At the border with Slovakia, there was a line of 15 vehicles at the “Uzhhorod” checkpoint and 5 at the “Malyi Berezny” checkpoint.
At the border with Romania, 50 vehicles were lined up at the “Porubne” checkpoint, while there were no lines at other checkpoints, nor at the border with Moldova.
Last year, passenger traffic across the border during this week was slightly lower—718,000—and the outbound and inbound flows were nearly equal—360,000 and 358,000, respectively. The number of vehicles last year was also lower—133,000. Last year, passenger traffic remained at this level or slightly higher until early September.
As reported, starting May 10, 2022, the outflow of refugees from Ukraine—which began with the start of the war—turned into 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.
In 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 year, by 221,000; and by 157,000 since the start of the fifth year—144,000 of which occurred since the beginning of summer.
In its April inflation report, the National Bank maintained its estimate of last year’s migration from Ukraine at 0.2 million 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 in 2024 this figure will be less than 0.5 million. 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, increasing 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 globally at 5.762 million, 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 are 3.70 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), compared to 3.34 million in July and 3.76 million in April 2025.
Data: State Border Guard Service
