Ukrainian State Border Service records surge in crossings into Poland

MOSCOW. Dec 23 (Interfax) - The number of people crossing Ukraine's western borders has surged in the run-up to Christmas holidays, the State Border Service said in a statement.

"It has been crossed by 150,000 people over the past 24 hours, which is one of the highest figures seen in the past few years," Ukrainian media quoted the service as saying on Monday.

The number of crossings has increased at all border sections in the west of Ukraine, having surged particularly high across Ukraine's border with Poland, which has caused queues, it said.

In the run-up to Christmas and New Year's holidays, the number of border crossings increased by 28.1% to 584,000 from November 14 to 20, 2024 compared to the previous week, it said.

The number of people who departed Ukraine increased to 294,000 from 233,000, and the number of those who crossed into the country increased to 290,000 from 223,000 in this period week on week, it said.

The number of vehicles crossing the border increased to 134,000 from 120,000 a week before, while the number of vehicles carrying humanitarian aid cleared to cross the border grew to 633 from 595.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency's reports updated on December 16, 2024, the number of Ukrainian refugees around the world was estimated at 6.814 million, or 28,000 more than on November 18, including 6.254 million in European countries outside of Ukraine.

Inside Ukraine, according to the UN data as of August 2024, there were 3.669 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), or 121,000 more than in April 2024.