Polish truck drivers are blocking the border with Ukraine. It's hurting on the battlefield

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Polish truck drivers are blocking the border with Ukraine. It’s hurting on the battlefield

BY HANNA ARHIROVA, KARL RITTER AND MONIKA SCISLOWSKA
Updated 7:59 AM EST, December 9, 2023

KORCZOWA, Poland (AP) — Pickup trucks and tourniquets bound for Ukraine’s battlefield are among items stuck in a mileslong line at the border with Poland. Components to build drones to fight off Russian forces are facing weeks of delays.

Ukrainian charities and companies supplying the war-torn country’s military warn that problems are growing as Polish truck drivers show no sign of ending a border blockade that has stretched past a month. The Polish protesters argue that their livelihoods are at stake after the European Union relaxed some transport rules and Ukrainian truckers undercut their business.

While drones will make it to the front line, they’re delayed by two to three weeks, said Oleksandr Zadorozhnyi, operational director of the KOLO foundation, which helps the Ukrainian army with battlefield tech, including drones and communications equipment.

“This means that the Russian army will have the ability to kill Ukrainian soldiers and terrorize civilians for several weeks longer,” he said.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/poland-ukraine-border-protest-truckers-lines-cbb2524630fdefcd4f58718d3a04d16a

[Chainfire]

1. I, Me, Mine...

[cbabe]

2. Today their livelihoods, tomorrow their lives.

[Emrys]

3. Not a total solution, but where there's a will, there's a way:

Ukraine Moves Trucks Over Polish Border by Train to Bypass Blockade

Ukraine on Thursday said it had tested transporting trucks across the Polish border using trains, in an attempt to bypass a month-long blockade by Polish hauliers.

Truck traffic at four border crossings has been paralysed since November, amid protests by Polish hauliers demanding the reintroduction of entry permits for their Ukrainian competitors.

"Ukrainian Railways has sent the first train with trucks to Poland," the state-owned rail operator said in a statement.
...
"Similar trips will be organised in the opposite direction," Ukrainian Railways said, posting a video showing a train carrying over a dozen trucks moving to an undisclosed location.

https://www.kyivpost.com/post/25192

Reuters has also reported on this initiative.