In early October, number of people wishing to cross border of Ukraine decreased - statistics by State Border Guard Service

Passenger traffic across the Ukrainian border over the past week - from October 4 to 10 - decreased by 8.2% to 515,000.

It was reported by the State Border Guard Service.

It is noted that the number of people who arrived in Ukraine during the week decreased from 278,000 to 253,000, while the number of those who left - from 283,000 to 262,000.

The number of vehicles crossing the checkpoints also decreased to 129,000 from 137,000, while the flow of vehicles with humanitarian supplies increased from 481 to 501

"This week's total border crossings for the first time in a long time were lower than last year's (by 1.3%), as last year in the same week pilgrims were leaving after celebrating Rosh Hashanah. Therefore, the number of those who left the country was significantly higher than the number of those who entered - 272 vs. 250, respectively. But the flow of cars then was smaller - 124,000," the border guards explained.

It is specified that last year the passenger traffic was at about this level until a small surge during the autumn school holidays, after which it decreased by about 20% before the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year, which literally translates to "the head of the year." This holiday symbolizes the beginning of the new year according to the Jewish calendar and is considered the day of God's judgment, when the actions of the past year are evaluated and the fate for the future is determined.