15 months of alarming figures in Germany: Thousands of Ukrainians detained for attempting illegal entry

More than 7,500 Ukrainian citizens were detained in Germany over a 15-month period for attempting to enter the country illegally.

TodayPress TV reports, citing Bild, that thousands of Ukrainian citizens attempted to illegally cross Germany’s land borders between May 2025 and August 2026.

According to the publication, citing data from the German Federal Police, law enforcement authorities prevented more than 70,000 such cases during this period. A total of 57,973 illegal entries or attempted illegal entries were recorded at Germany’s land borders.

Bild specifies that Ukrainian citizens accounted for the largest number of those detained, at 7,515 people. They were followed by Afghan citizens, with 4,842, and Turkish citizens, with 4,834.

Overall, including airports, German authorities have prevented more than 70,000 illegal entries into the country since May 2025.

Earlier, Ukraine’s Minister of Social Policy Denys Ulyutin said that more than 5.8 million people had left the country since 2022, and many of them had not yet returned due to the “security situation.”

In January 2026, Andriy Demchenko, a representative of Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, said that approximately 1,400 Ukrainians had attempted to illegally cross the border with Belarus in 2025.

Giymat Mahir