More men aged 18-60 have recently come back to Ukraine

Border guards have emphasised that there has been no increase in the number of border crossings by Ukrainian men aged 18-60 to leave the country – on the contrary, more men came back to Ukraine in December.

Source: Colonel Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda

Quote: "We would like to emphasise that the number of border crossings by male citizens of Ukraine aged 18-60 is not increasing. In addition, this category of people is generally prohibited from leaving Ukraine during martial law, and only those who are not subject to restrictions in accordance with the border crossing rules approved by a government resolution are allowed to leave the country.

At the same time, border guards refuse to allow about 100 people to cross the border every day as they do not qualify for a pass and do not comply with the conditions of crossing.

The analysis of the first weeks of December also shows that Ukrainian men aged 18-60 crossed the border more to enter Ukraine than to leave. It is a mistake to assume that men are exclusively trying to leave Ukraine."

Details: As Demchenko explained, the vast majority of men – about 45-50% – are drivers of vehicles engaged in international transport of goods and passengers and registered in the Shliakh system (a special e-system to register those drivers and volunteers who can leave the country and have an obligation to come back – ed.).

15-17% each are people with disabilities and parents with many children (more than three) who have the right to cross and who, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine On Training and Mobilisation, are also not subject to military service.

About 7% are persons who have been declared unfit for military service. Another 3% are men who cross the border to transport humanitarian goods for the needs of military units and the population of Ukraine and who are registered in the Shliakh system.

Demchenko said that a small percentage of other categories are allowed to cross the border during martial law, including those who are accompanying people with disabilities; those certain public servants who are on a business trip or who have been included by a public authority in the list of reserved employees and will not be mobilised; those raising a child with a disability or raising a child under the age of 18 on their own, and others.

He also stressed that during control measures at checkpoints, border guards strictly check the documents that give grounds for letting people leave the country, and also expose people who try to use forged documents. In total, over 11 months of 2023, about 3,000 forged documents were detected at checkpoints.

Demchenko also drew attention to the improvement of the document verification procedure. In addition to the technical means used by border guards to check documents for forgery, the State Border Guard Service units are in constant contact with various government bodies to verify the legality of the documents issued, if necessary.

Moreover, technical work is at the final stage on establishing information exchange between the State Border Guard Service's databases and the Register of Conscripts and Persons Liable for Military Service, as well as with data from civil registry offices.

Demchenko added that in the near future (approximately in early 2024), this will allow border guards to check online a number of documents presented by citizens to confirm the conditions for crossing the border, which will simplify the verification procedure.

Regarding the overall situation with border crossings, Demchenko noted that in recent days there has been a gradual increase in passenger traffic at the state border. Approximately 90-100,000 people cross the border daily in both directions, with a 50-50 split between exit and entry. This is in particular due to the approaching Christmas and New Year period.

Prior to that, the number of border crossings fluctuated between 75,000 and 85,000 people, and passenger traffic tended to decrease throughout the autumn months.

85% of people crossing the border are citizens of Ukraine. First and foremost, there is an increase in the number of women, children and the elderly crossing the border for various purposes, either to leave or to return to Ukraine.

Background: Suspilne news outlet quoted Colonel Ihor Matviichuk, head of the border control organisation of the Western Regional Directorate of the State Border Guard Service, as saying that about 6,000 men of conscription age leave across Ukraine's western border every day.

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