Ukrainian State Border Service updates border crossing statistics

MOSCOW. Dec 25 (Interfax) - The five weeks of approximately equal flows in and from Ukraine gave way to a net influx of 24,000 people in Ukraine in the week of December 16-22 as the New Year holidays and winter school vacations drew nearer, Ukrainian media reported, citing the Ukrainian State Border Service's statistics.

The number of border crossings rose 33.3% week-on-week to 604,000, while the number of vehicles that were allowed to cross the border went up 12.7% to 133,000, the statistical data indicated.

The number of border crossings from Ukraine climbed from 229,000 the previous week to 290,000 this week, while the number of border crossings into the country grew from 224,000 to 314,000.

The number of cleared vehicles carrying humanitarian supplies, which had dropped to 515 in the first week of December after the new customs clearance procedure came into effect, continued to rebound and increased another 7.2% to 759 this week, which is already close to the usual figures seen in H1 November (760-805).

The number of Ukrainian refugees across Europe was estimated at 5.932 million as of December 12, and 6.335 million globally, which is only 2,000 to 3,000 higher week-on-week, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.

As of November 6, there were 3.674 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine itself, compared to the previous estimate of 5.088 million, the UN said. "This [significant reduction] is not due to a significant return of IDPs, but rather primarily to a change in the methodology used in calculating the number of IDPs. The new baseline population figure used to extrapolate IDP estimates now takes into account the absence of some 6.2 million refugees from Ukraine who are no longer in the country," UNHCR said.