Over 110 criminal groups assisting in illegal departures from Ukraine uncovered since year starts – SBGS spox

This was announced during a briefing at Ukrinform by SBGS Spokesperson Andrii Demchenko.

“Regarding attempts to illegally cross the border — such incidents continue to occur, and unfortunately, our border patrols are forced to detain violators every day. At the same time, starting from July 2024, the trend has been consistently declining month by month. March was no exception. Compared to February, the downward trend has continued, and border patrols are detaining fewer individuals attempting such illegal journeys,” Demchenko stated.

He added that border guards, in cooperation with law enforcement, continue to expose schemes and criminal groups that help people illegally cross the border, charging between $5,000 and $12,000 for their services.

“As for uncovering and shutting down these schemes, since the beginning of the year our operational staff, together with other law enforcement agencies, have halted the activities of more than 110 such criminal groups that promised to assist people in illegally crossing the border,” the Spokesperson said.

As Ukrinform previously reported, since the martial law was introduced and up to March 2025, border guards and other law enforcement agencies have uncovered more than 820 criminal groups smuggling conscription-age men across the border. In February alone, 40 such groups were identified.