'Migrant' special operation to continue until Sept

 First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Serhiy Yarovy said from July 26 to August 31, 2018 targeted preventive measures for monitoring and monitoring compliance with legislation in the migration sphere will be extended. The special operation, he said, is called "Migrant."

"The State Border Service, the National Police and the State Migration Service are involved. The tasks they face are as follows: improving the operational situation in the service area by stopping administrative and criminal offenses committed by foreigners, close cooperation of all Interior Ministry agencies, increasing the intensity of patrols leading to the state border, checking where foreigners reside, et cetera," Yarovy said.

Yarovy said since the start of 2017 almost 3,500 criminal offenses have been committed by foreigners – by citizens of Russia – 1,034, Georgia – 1,024, Azerbaijan - 659, Moldova - 443.

"In order to prevent crimes 'Migrant' will launched in Ukraine," he said.

He said since the end of 2017 and during the first half of 2018 there has been a significant increase in the illegal movements of migrants, their non-admission across the state border and detention.

"The State Border Service has reported an increase of 22%, detainees - 1,432, illegal immigrants – 417. The State Migration Service - an increase of 46%, illegal migrants – 4,486, arrests, compared to 3,293 during the same period of 2017," he said.

According to Yarovy, the number of illegal migrants detained in groups declined from the beginning of the year: some 472 migrants were detained in 102 groups (Luhansk region - 1, Kharkiv - 9, Sumy - 7, Chernihiv - 2, Volyn - 2, Lviv - 39, Zakarpattia - 34, Chernivtsi - 2, Odesa – 6.

The first deputy minister said according to operative data of the Department for Combating Trafficking in Persons, after the World Cup in Russia there were several thousand "fans" from the countries who tried illegally to get to the EU via Ukraine.