By KYIV. Nov 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Polish protesters on the Ukrainian-Polish border have numerous times blocked the movement of fuel tanks and trucks with humanitarian cargo, Ukraine has sent information about such cases to the Polish authorities, Deputy Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine Serhiy Derkach said on Sunday, November 19, in the evening.
“Obviously, the claims about letting humanitarian aid and hazardous cargo [cross the border] are also not true. We have recorded numerous cases of fuel tanks and trucks with humanitarian aid standing in the queue. We pass information about such cases to our Polish colleagues from the ministry. We are waiting them to reply to us how this correlates with the statements about allowing unimpeded movement across the border for such cargoes,” he said on Facebook.
Polish protesting carriers have also blocked the checkpoints where the Ukrainian ministry’s team had delivered assistance for Ukrainian drivers, Derkach said.
“Our team spent the whole day on the border today: Krakovets-Korczowa and Rava-Ruska-Hrebenne. Some 1,200 trucks are blocked at the first checkpoint and 500 – in Hrebenne. Within the framework of the operation of the Headquarters for Assistance to Ukrainian Drivers, which was established at the initiative of Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov, we delivered food, water, medicines there. It was the first such cargo organized today, and we are already organizing the next ones for the drivers blocked near Dorohusk. The situation there is not less critical – more than 1,200 trucks in the queue,” the deputy minister said.
Derkach also emphasized that the checkpoints visited by the ministerial team were blocked by small groups of protesters.
“There were just not more than 15 protesters at these two checkpoints. In fact, a dozen of people is holding the border hostage,” he said.
According to the deputy minister, the representatives of the ministry noticed during their visit that “more vehicles were allowed to enter Ukraine than ‘usual.’ The drivers also noticed that. This means that the arrival of the ministry’s team had impact on the number of vehicles passed by relevant services and protesters.”
“The eCherha is a separate topic – drivers have said in public numerous times that the service operates successfully and categorically refused to make any concessions to the protesters [who are demanding] to remove Polish drivers from it,” Derkach said.
