Ukrainian men lodge complaints with the ECHR due to border crossing denials

Three complaints from Ukrainian men regarding refusals to allow them to cross the Ukrainian border have already appeared on the website of the European Court of Human Rights. The applicants complain that the restriction on their departure abroad during the state of emergency was unlawful and violated their right to freedom of movement.

One of the plaintiffs is Andriy Kuzmenko, a resident of the Chernihiv region.

In May 2022, he attempted to leave based on his military service record (presenting a military ID with a note of discharge). Border guards did not let him through, issuing a written refusal without specifying specific reasons.

Kuzmenko challenged this in the Kyiv District Administrative Court, but it was dissolved. Then the case was transferred to another court. The proceedings are still ongoing. The plaintiff then attempted to leave again and once more received a refusal, which he took to the Chernivtsi Administrative Court.

There, Kuzmenko argued that none of the laws prohibited men from leaving the country and that imposing any such restriction through subordinate acts (i.e., presidential decrees) contradicted the Constitution. However, this and subsequent Ukrainian courts rejected the claim.

Another case in the European Court of Human Rights is from Kirill Dorondov, a resident of the Chernihiv region.

In October 2022, he attempted to travel to Poland for studies. At the border, he presented documents that proved he was a student, as well as a copy of his written application to the military enlistment office requesting a deferment.

The Ukrainian border service refused passage without explaining clear reasons and issued a document listing laws and decrees on the state of emergency and mobilization.

The courts Dorondov appealed to did not overturn the border service’s decision. Still, they acknowledged that as a student, he was entitled to a deferment and was not subject to mobilization.

Additionally, one of the Ukrainian courts found that the rules for crossing the border by students were “unclear and contradictory” and recommended that Kirill rely on clarifications from the border service regarding the documents a student needs to cross the border. Nevertheless, the case was taken to the European Court of Human Rights.

The third lawsuit is from Oleg Konichenko, a resident of the Kyiv region.

He attempted to leave Ukraine in early March 2022 with his two-year-old son. He was denied departure without providing written justifications. The second attempt to leave was in May. Konichenko tried to leave again with his son, having documents proving that he was divorced from his wife and that his son lived with him. However, he received a refusal again. It stated that the man did not provide documents for departure, but it did not specify which ones.

The plaintiff filed a lawsuit, challenging this and also stating that the presidential decree and government resolutions cannot restrict citizens’ constitutional rights (including the right to leave the country).

“The mobilization law, referred to by the authorities, did not regulate issues related to crossing the state border and did not specify which documents are required for this,” the lawsuit stated.

Parallelly, he attempted to leave the country again, gathering an even larger set of documents proving that he was a single father. However, all Ukrainian courts rejected the applicant and he turned to the European Court.