Ukrainian govt proposes introducing criminal liability for illegal border crossing

MOSCOW. Aug 22 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian government has submitted a bill to the Verkhovna Rada proposing tighter liability for illegal crossing of the state border, Ukrainian media said.

Illegal border crossing is punishable only with administrative penalties and fines today. An explanatory note to the bill, initiated by Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko, says that the number of instances of draft-age men illegally exiting Ukraine has increased significantly since the start of the crisis, while current penalties are not efficient enough in stopping them from doing it.

Border guards recorded a little more than 3,000 illegal crossings of the Ukrainian border in 2021, this number more than doubled in 2022, amounting to nearly 10,000 in 2023 and topping 20,000 in 2024. The number of draft-age men detained for illegally crossing the border in the first quarter of 2025 stood at 4,678, which is 10% more than over the same period of 2024 (4,539).

Under the bill, such offenses can entail fines ranging from UAH 119,000 to UAH 170,000 or terms of up to three years in prison. For conscripts, people liable for military service or reservists who have stayed abroad longer than permitted during martial law, there will be fines ranging from UAH 34,000 to UAH 51,000 or terms of three to five years in prison.

Intentional damage to border infrastructure will be punished by fines of UAH 17,000 to UAH 85,000 or freedom restraints of up to three years.

At the same time, there will be no direct criminal liability for citizens who will timely return to Ukraine and, acting on their own volition, will inform law enforcement agencies of the offenses committed by them.