Via Remix News,

In the wake of Kyiv’s decision to allow men aged 18-22 to legally leave Ukraine last August, Poland has seen one of the largest waves of young Ukrainians flooding its borders. 

From Aug. 26 to Nov. 10, 49,700 Ukrainian citizens have applied for protection status (UKR), linked to a PESEL number, in Poland in recent weeks. As a comparison, for the January-February period of 2025, there were only 16,000 such applications, reports Do Rzeczy, citing data from  “Rzeczpospolita.”

Asylum status for Ukrainians provides the right to legal residence (currently until March 4, 2026), work, access to education, and benefits.

It is lost upon leaving Poland for more than 30 days, but can be reapplied for.

In total, over 2 million Ukrainians have applied for refugee status in Poland since 2022, but as of Nov. 12, only 964,400 had active status.

Over the past few months, the share of men aged 18-65 among new applicants has increased from 16.6 percent to 17.4 percent, while the share of women has fallen from 48.3 percent to 47.7 percent. 

According to Polish Border Guard data, from Aug. 29 to Nov. 24, 121,000 Ukrainians aged 18-22 entered Poland, of whom 59,000 returned to Ukraine.

This means that approximately 62,000 young men remained in Poland or departed for the EU. Experts emphasize that this is the first such large wave of young Ukrainians in this age group in Poland.

According to Kyiv, the change in regulations is intended to enable young people to study and work abroad. At the same time, men aged 18-22 are exempt from the mandatory mobilization process, which begins at age 25. However, according to data from the Polish Economic Institute, only 39 percent of young men take up employment, primarily in construction, transport, and industry. They often work in closed environments, which, as the Institute points out, hinders linguistic and social integration.

Meanwhile, crime and sabotage perpetrated by Ukrainians have become a problem. 

Police indicate that in the first half of 2025, 8,994 foreigners committed crimes in Poland, of which approximately 60 percent were Ukrainians. The most common offenses were drunk driving and fraud, including cybercrime. At the same time, Polish services emphasize that some Ukrainians are being used by Russian intelligence for sabotage activities. In Ukraine alone, 2,800 investigations into espionage and sabotage are ongoing.

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