Border guards detain about 1,500 illegal border crossers in 2026 – SBGS spox

This was reported by Andrii Demchenko, Spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, in a comment to an Ukrinform correspondent.

“Unfortunately, people have not stopped attempting to cross the border illegally. Since the start of the year, about 1,500 violators have been detained while trying to cross the border unlawfully,” Demchenko said.

He specified that throughout 2025, more than 500 criminal groups specializing in smuggling people across the border were uncovered. In January 2026 alone, about 20 such groups were exposed.

According to Demchenko, most violators turn to these criminal networks, which promise assistance in crossing the border. In some cases, people never have direct contact with the organizers and receive only instructions on how to cross the state border.

He noted that such fraudulent schemes often direct people to dangerous sections of the border, where they may lose their lives.

Demchenko said that roughly half of those detained this year were caught along the border with Romania. About 300 people were detained at the border with Moldova, 161 at the border with Hungary, 140 near the border with Slovakia, 53 near the border with Poland, and 44 in the direction of Belarus. In this context, he stressed that compared to previous years, the number of illegal border crossing attempts toward Belarus has increased.

He also noted that the number of such attempts has currently declined significantly due to weather conditions.

“The overall downward trend began back in September last year. The peak number of detentions occurred in August last year, and since then the figures have been decreasing. However, with the onset of more favorable weather in the spring months, we should expect an increase in those planning illegal crossings,” Demchenko emphasized.

According to him, border areas where the boundary runs along rivers are particularly dangerous – specifically in the Zakarpattia and southern Ukraine.

“Once again, I want to warn people against such actions, because river sections of the border have claimed the most lives among those who took these reckless steps,” Demchenko said.

As previously reported by Ukrinform, the National Police of Ukraine and the Security Service of Ukraine detained organizers of schemes to evade mobilization in the Poltava and Zakarpattia regions.