There are currently no lines at Ukraine's borders, but passenger traffic is increasing — State Border Guard Service of Ukraine

Passenger traffic at the western sections of Ukraine’s state border traditionally increases on the eve of weekends. At the same time, as of now, no significant lines have been observed at border crossing points. Andriy Demchenko, a spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, provided an update on the situation at the border.

“Passenger traffic at the border is very dynamic. Often, the volume of traffic on a single day is later portrayed in the media as long lines, traffic congestion, and hours-long waits at the border, among other things. However, it’s important to understand that lines at the border are a situational matter. Traditionally, passenger traffic increases on the eve of weekends, as well as on weekends themselves,” Demchenko noted.

He noted that on Thursday and Friday, most border crossing points with Poland—which account for 50% of total passenger traffic—were busy. The busiest were Ustyluh in Volyn Oblast, Krakivets, and Shehyni in Lviv Oblast. However, as of Monday, there are no lines at the border.

“As of today, there are practically no queues at the border, including along the border with Poland,” Demchenko said.

He noted that on weekdays, approximately 85,000–90,000 people cross the border; on Fridays, up to 95,000; and on weekends, the number exceeds 100,000.

“This past weekend, we saw a sharp increase to 117,000 border crossings on both Saturday and Sunday. At the same time, Saturday, for example, was characterized more by outbound travel, while Sunday saw passenger traffic split evenly 50/50,” the spokesperson said.

Demchenko also noted that passenger traffic may be partially affected by temporary suspensions of border crossing operations due to air raid alerts.

“More suspensions of such border crossing operations were observed specifically last week. This was particularly the case along the border in the Volyn region, in the Lviv region, along the border with Moldova, and within the Odesa and Vinnytsia regions, because, unfortunately, the enemy is intensifying its attacks on most regions of Ukraine,” he noted.

According to Demchenko, checkpoints in Volyn were most frequently suspended due to air raid alerts.

“When it comes to the section of the border with Poland—which covers Volyn and Lviv regions—most of the suspensions of border crossing operations occurred specifically within Volyn region. Although air raid alerts were also sounded in Lviv Oblast, and operations at various border crossing points within Lviv Oblast were also suspended for certain periods,” the spokesperson said.

Andriy Demchenko, a spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, reported this in a comment to Ukrinform.

Video: Kilometers-long lines of buses have formed in Volyn at the border with Poland.

As a reminder, queues for freight transport at the border with Poland have doubled.

Travel from Ukraine to Poland has become more difficult due to significant train delays and long waits at the border. As of October 20, some Ukrzaliznytsia trains were running nearly 20 hours behind schedule, and bus passengers reported delays lasting several hours. Ukrzaliznytsia explained that train schedules had to be adjusted due to air raid alerts and security measures.

At the Ukrainian-Polish border in Lviv Oblast, a traffic backlog was observed as vehicles attempted to leave Ukraine.