BUCHAREST, February 24. /TASS/. Over 9,000 Ukrainians have crossed into Romania illegally since the beginning of the armed conflict, says Florin Coman, Chief Inspector of the Sighetu-Marmatiei Territorial Inspectorate of the Border Police.

"Since the beginning of the conflict, […] over 9,000 (exactly 9,112) Ukrainian citizens aged between 18 and 60, have been discovered on Romania’s northern border, who told border security forces that they fled Ukraine because of the war," he said.

"Unfortunately, many of them endanger their lives trying to cross the border by swimming across the cold and fast river Tisza, or over the Maramures Mountains without equipment, amid winter conditions with very harsh conditions," the official said.

According to Coman, since February, 2022, a total of 16 Ukrainian citizens have been found dead: 9 on the Romanian shore of Tisza and 7 in the Maramures Mountains.

"However, due to 52 rescue operations, […] a total of 72 Ukrainian citizens, who got lost in the alpine border area, have been rescured," Coman added.

Previously, Agerpres reported that the head of the State Border Service of Ukraine in the Chenovtsy Region issued a decree, prohibiting Ukrainian citizens aged between 18 and 60 from approaching Romanian or Moldovan border for 5 km or closer. The measure was adopted due to the concerning trend of growing number of attempts to cross the border in a bid to avoid mobilization, the report says.