By KYIV. Oct 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The number of pedestrian crossings on the border with Poland has decreased to one versus eight that operated in the first months of Russia’s full-scale invasion, and the requirements for documents presented at the border have also changed, Deputy Chief of Staff – Head of the Department for Organizing Border Control of the Western Regional Directorate Headquarters Ihor Matviychuk said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“On the Polish border we have the only pedestrian crossing, Shehyni-Medyka. It allows people to pass in both directions,” Matviychuk said.
Now this passage is used by even fewer people than before the full-scale war, the agency’s interlocutor clarified.
“Very little is used. But at any moment, we can open any checkpoint on the western border for pedestrian crossing, if God forbid, the need arises,” he assured.
The decision to terminate pedestrian access at each point was made individually, in accordance with the situation. Moreover, each checkpoint remained open until the last person evacuated. And as soon as the flow of people stopped, the pedestrian crossing was closed. Decisions to close a pedestrian crossing through a border checkpoint can be made at the level of the head of the border unit, Matviychuk explained.
The requirements for documents of people crossing the border have also changed. Children can cross if the adults have their birth certificate, but adults must have the original biometric passport. Foreign passports in Diia are not the basis for crossing the border, Matviychuk clarified.
