Ukrainian border service updates border crossing statistics

MOSCOW. May 13 (Interfax) - The number of people who departed Ukraine from May 4 to 10, 2024 increased to 248,000 from 229,000 a week before, while the number of those who crossed into Ukraine declined to 198,000 from 315,000 week on week, Ukrainian media reported with reference to the State Border Service's social media post.

Following Orthodox Easter, which was celebrated this year on May 5, the daily number of departures was about 10,000 higher on average than the number of entrances, while over the week before Easter, the daily number of entrances exceeded that of departures by around 12,000.

Apart from a decline in the passenger traffic by 18%, Easter also prompted the number of vehicles cleared to cross Ukrainian borders to go down by nearly 20%, to 111,000 from 138,000. In particular, the number of vehicles carrying humanitarian cargo dropped to 475 from 657 week on week.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency's data as of April 19, 2024, the number of Ukrainian refugees across the world was estimated at 6.472 million (14,000 fewer than a month before), including 5.930 million in European countries outside of Ukraine, (53,000 fewer than a month before).

Inside Ukraine, according to the UN data as of December 31, 2023, there were 3.689 million internally displaced persons (IDPs).