More than 155,000 Russian citizens are officially residing in Ukraine, according to the State Border Guard Service
As of April 30, 2026, there are 155,233 citizens of the Russian Federation officially residing in Ukraine.
This was reported by Natalia Naumenko, head of the State Migration Service of Ukraine.
According to her, 900 of them hold temporary residence permits, while another 154,333 hold permanent residence permits.
The State Migration Service notes that over 95% of these citizens have family ties to Ukrainians or historical-territorial origins and have lived in Ukraine for many years or decades.
At the same time, according to Naumenko, after the start of the full-scale war, the employment of Russian citizens in Ukraine has effectively come to a halt. In 2025, only 29 work permits were issued, whereas in 2021 there were 1,243 such permits.
“Compared to 2021, this is a 43-fold drop,” noted the head of the State Migration Service.
She added that each case involving the processing of documents for Russian citizens undergoes an individual review.
Naumenko also reported that the total flow of crossings at the Ukrainian-Russian border has dropped to 1% of pre-war levels.
Furthermore, claims regarding an alleged influx of migrant workers in Ukraine are not true.
On May 14, an online petition was registered on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, proposing to introduce mandatory integration standards for migrant workers and to strengthen control in the field of migration policy.
The recent escalation of anti-immigration rhetoric in Ukraine is an attempt to influence public sentiment and destabilize the situation on the home front. According to experts, such disinformation campaigns may be aimed at intensifying internal tensions and discrediting mobilization efforts.
