Border Guards: Fewer Ukrainians Traveled To Russia In 2019

Radio Free never takes money from corporate interests, which ensures our publications are in the interest of people, not profits. Radio Free provides free and open-source tools and resources for anyone to use to help better inform their communities. Learn more and get involved at radiofree.org
Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service (DPSU) says passenger traffic at the Russian-Ukrainian border in 2019 decreased by 10 percent to 10 million people in comparison to the previous year.

Approximately 7 million Ukrainians entered Russia last year, 800,000 fewer than in 2018, the government agency said on January 14.

Nine percent fewer Ukrainians also traveled to neighboring Belarus and 6.1 percent to Moldova.

The travel documents of more than 102 million travelers were checked last year, a record, says DPSU.

International Ukrainian air travelers surged 30 percent last year to 15.1 million.

Land crossings of Ukraine’s border with its four EU neighbors remained flat for the same period at 36.7 million people.

After Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and started fomenting a separatist war in the easternmost regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, Kyiv banned direct flights between the two countries.

Enjoying visa-free travel to most EU countries, more Ukrainians are driving to the 28-nation bloc.

International driving insurance contracts taken out by Ukrainians jumped by 43 percent through November on a yearly basis.