KORSCZWA, Poland (AP) — Pickup trucks and gangs heading to the battlefield in Ukraine are among the items stuck in a miles-long line on the border with Poland. Components to build drones to fight Russian forces face weeks of delays.
Ukrainian charities and companies supplying the military in the war-torn country warn that problems are growing as Polish truck drivers show no sign of ending a month-long border blockade. Polish protesters say their livelihoods are at risk after the European Union eased some transport rules and Ukrainian truck drivers undermined their businesses.
Although the drones will reach the front line, they will be delayed by two to three weeks, said Oleksandr Zadorozhny, chief operating officer of the KOLO Foundation, which helps the Ukrainian military with battlefield technology, including drones and communications equipment.
Read more: How Ukrainian soldiers are using inexpensive commercial drones on the battlefield
He added: “This means that the Russian army will have the ability to kill Ukrainian soldiers and terrorize civilians for several more weeks.”
Truck drivers in Poland have blocked roads leading to border crossings since November 6, creating lines stretching more than 30 kilometers (19 miles) and lasting for up to three weeks in freezing temperatures. The demonstrators insist that they are not stopping military transfers or humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
“This is very puzzling to me, and it’s hard to believe because everyone knows – those who order, those who rush, those who transport – that military aid passes without having to wait at all,” said Waldemar Jaszczur, one of the observers. Protest organizer.
Meanwhile, Polish truckers say their Ukrainian counterparts are offering lower prices to transport everything from fish to luxury goods across the EU since they were granted a temporary exemption on the 27-nation bloc’s transport rules after Russia’s invasion in 2022.
Although Poland and other neighboring countries are Ukraine’s biggest backers in the war, dissatisfaction has been growing from truck drivers and farmers who are losing businesses due to the flow of low-cost Ukrainian goods and services into the world’s largest trading bloc. It highlights the challenges facing Ukraine’s integration into the European Union if it is approved.
Ukrainian charities say the trade conflict is now spilling over into the battlefield.
About 200 pickup trucks needed to transport ammunition and evacuate wounded from the front lines are blocked at the border because “deliveries have practically stopped,” said Ivan Poprzhnyak, head of procurement and logistics at Come Back Alive, Ukraine’s largest charity providing military support. With equipment.
Polish protesters talk with a Ukrainian driver waiting to enter the Dorohoszk-Jagodzin border crossing in Okopie, Poland, December 4, 2023. Photo by Koba Stezecki/Reuters
He said that pickup trucks are easy targets for Russia, so it is impossible to deliver enough of them even normally.
When drivers show Polish truck drivers documents stating that the vehicles are intended for the Ukrainian military, “it doesn’t have much impact on the protesters,” Pobrzejnyak said.
“We must understand that in wartime, supplies are needed on a daily basis in all directions,” he said.
Come Back Alive says 3,000 tourniquets are also stuck at the border. It has been able to source drones, generators and batteries from what it has in stock, “but that reserve is running out,” Pobrzyniak said.
He says the group is exploring alternative supply routes, but there are few options, and the military’s unmet requests for equipment are increasing.
Protesting truck drivers stress that not all deliveries advertised as military aid are in fact so. They are urging the European Union to reimpose restrictions on the number of Ukrainian trucks that can enter the bloc.
Jaszzor, the organizer, said Ukrainian truck drivers were operating unauthorized transport services across Europe. He said they are demanding “grossly low prices” – 35 percent less than what Polish truck drivers charge – and are “taking us out of the market”.
He said the same thing is happening in other countries such as Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania. Some Slovak truck drivers staged their own protest in recent days on the Ukrainian border.
Jaszczor says many Polish transport companies are going bankrupt due to pressure from Ukrainian competition.
Although there is no quick solution in sight, the change in leadership in Warsaw offers hope.
The new government is expected to be formed next week, and will almost certainly be led by the pro-EU centrist Donald Tusk. He criticized the “inaction” of the outgoing government, which gave hope to companies affected by the blockade as well as to the demonstrators.
“We will look for solutions that satisfy Polish transport companies, but we will not tolerate any events that threaten Polish security. Who inspired or started them?” Tusk said on Friday, stressing that Ukraine represents a strategic point for Poland in its war against the Russian invasion.
Read more: EU official von der Leyen visits Kiev to discuss Ukraine’s path to joining the European Union
Ukrainian truck driver Ivan Ishchenko is one of those eagerly awaiting a solution. He had been waiting in Poland for days with hundreds of others, trying to stay warm at a highway rest stop so he could bring his load of salmon and herring to Ukrainian supermarkets.
“I clean the truck and remove snow,” Ishchenko said on Thursday. “Polish customs officers come and ask for documents three times a day.”
The 61-year-old expressed his hope that it would be his turn to drive through the Korzowa-Krakowice crossing on Saturday.
“I live in Chernihiv near Russia. Every day there are attacks. And now I’m stuck on the Polish border. What do they want?”
As temperatures drop, drivers are experiencing difficult conditions, choosing not to warm up their trucks to save fuel and facing limited access to food and bathrooms, Ukrainian media reported.
Polish and Ukrainian officials are negotiating with the help of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, but the protest has expanded in scope.
“We don’t see any light in the tunnel, and we don’t see any authorities, government or EU Commission paying real attention to this matter,” said Dariusz Matulewicz, head of the Truckers Association in Szczecin, a city in western Poland.
Deputy Infrastructure Minister Rafal Weber said Monday in Brussels that the outgoing Polish government “has nothing against supporting Ukraine,” but “should not allow aid activities at the expense of Polish companies.”
The European Union put pressure on Warsaw to find a way to end the siege, but it stuck to its agreement with Kiev. EU Transport Commissioner Adina Valian, who also threatened to impose sanctions on Poland, said it was “good for the European market, Ukraine and Moldova.”
Ukrainian officials say the truck drivers’ protest adds more pressure to their economy and only serves Russia’s interests.
Danilo Hetmantsev, head of the Finance and Taxation Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament, said that Ukrainian exports decreased by 40 percent through the four closed border crossings, and the state budget lost about 9.3 billion hryvnia ($254 million) due to the shortfall in customs payments. .
“This is undoubtedly a strong blow to our economy and our exports,” Hetmantsev said Tuesday on state television.
AP journalists Vanessa Gera in Warsaw and Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kiev, Ukraine, contributed.
