Net passenger flow into Ukraine on for straight 12 days, reaches 83,000

KYIV. May 23 (Interfax-Ukraine) - The number of passengers arriving in Ukraine through its western border has been larger than the number of leaving persons for the straight 12 days and has reached 83,000 people, the largest number since February 24.

According to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, the ratio of passenger traffic out of and into Ukraine through the western border is back to the April 11 level.

More than 37,000 people departed from Ukraine on May 21, which is a bit less than the day before, while the number of arriving people has grown from 43,000 to approximately 45,000 day on day, it said.

"The trend towards an increasing number of people returning to Ukraine has persisted for now," the service said.

Meanwhile, the number of humanitarian trucks cleared by customs reduced from 250 to 179 over the day, it said.

In turn, the Polish border authorities said on Twitter that 33,200 people left Poland for Ukraine on May 21, as against 28,400 the day before, while 23,000 and 23,700 people arrived in Poland from Ukraine, respectively.

According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, as of 1 a.m. on May 20, 6.444 million people departed from Ukraine since February 24 (not counting the arrivals in Ukraine). These include 3.463 million who left for Poland, 996,850 who left for Moldova and Romania, 887,650 who left for Russia, 633,220 who left for Hungary, 435,660 who left for Slovakia, and 27,310 who left for Belarus (as of May 12).

A total of 1.964 million people arrived in Ukraine between February 28 and May 20, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine said.