After war, 10-15% of refugees may return to Ukraine – expert

Even after the end of hostilities, one should not expect a mass return of Ukrainians from abroad. According to experts, only 10-15% of citizens who left during the war may return home.

This was stated by the head of the Migration Policy Office, president of the All-Ukrainian Association of International Employment Companies, labor migration expert Vasyl Voskoboynyk in an interview with the YouTube channel “DumaY”.

According to him, even after the end of the war, the return process will be gradual and long, as people will evaluate their prospects both abroad and in Ukraine.

“The end of the war does not mean that Ukrainians will immediately start packing up and returning to Ukraine. Most likely, it will take several months. Maybe six months or even a year. The lion’s share of people who are ready to return to their homeland will weigh what they have abroad and what they will potentially have in Ukraine,” the expert said.

Voskoboynyk noted that currently about 4.2 million Ukrainians have temporary protection in various countries, while in general there are about 6.5 million Ukrainian citizens in Europe.

“In general, there are about 6.5 million Ukrainians in Europe. And of these people, we can count on the return of from 200,000 to 1 million in the next two years after the end of the war. These are the people who can actually return to Ukraine,” he added.

As a reminder, Poland has canceled free healthcare for Ukrainian pensioners and unemployed refugees.

© 2026 Ukrainian News Agency

3 comments

  1. Europe should send all adult males back to Ukraine immediately. But Europe is ruled by numbskulls and idiots.

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