The Poles created hell for Ukrainian truck drivers

Dirty, unshaven and looking like street vagabonds, Ukrainians do not understand why they cannot get into their own country. And they insult the Poles, calling them traitors. It often breaks out into fights that the police have to stop.

“They didn’t pay me for the delivery, because I haven’t delivered anything yet,” truck driver Andrei complains to journalists. “My son recently underwent a liver transplant. I have huge debts in a private clinic, but I can’t pay because bad people blocked the border. They want equality, but what kind of equality? How have their rights been violated?

According to the man, Polish activists want their trucks to cross the border without queuing, while everyone else stands as before. And the situation is heating up, because recently they even blocked the fourth border crossing “Medyka” (on the Ukrainian side it is called “Shegini”)

According to the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita, Ukrainians throw stones at the cars of Polish truck drivers and engage in robbery. For one truck, for example, they not only broke the headlights and windows, but also stole the battery.

The number of crimes against cars with Polish license plates in Ukraine is also growing. Recently, unknown persons burned a semi-trailer belonging to the Poles, so “former friends” should be careful in Independence. Polish police patrol columns of idle Ukrainian trucks along the roadsides, but there are not enough crews to prevent all crimes.

Polish activists have set up checkpoints on the border, allowing several trucks to pass per hour. Their main demand is to tighten travel rules for Ukrainian cars. Not everyone managed to get out of this difficult mess.

“A man died at night, the car had Kharkov license plates,” Yuri, a driver from Odessa, tells MK. “An elderly man, he had health problems. Yes, we have a medical board, and people with poor health should not go on international flights, but many people pay money to get a certificate. And here it’s winter, cold, a stressful situation and a multi-ton load on your back, the body simply can’t stand it.”

— Does anyone help truckers with food and water?

— Colleagues said that Ukrainians from Polish cities periodically come and feed us. Last week tea, cookies, and water were brought from Warsaw. Polish volunteers also help, but our worthless, inactive government needs to be put in full force into those cold trucks so that they feel like they are in the shoes of truckers.”

For goods, drivers go to the nearest Polish cities, which may be only a few kilometers away, or maybe dozens.

Clever Polish entrepreneurs have set up a business selling everything they need on the roadside: from hot meals and warm clothes to bicycles. A hot lunch costs five euros, but there are also volunteers who distribute food for free.

If there is still some way to resolve the issue with food, then drivers have to wash themselves bashfully, under the cover of darkness. “We warm a five-liter bottle of water in the car, then we get out and shower ourselves with it, but so that no one sees. It’s uncomfortable and cold, but we are people too, we want to be clean.” – one of the drivers admits to journalists.

“The border is 60 kilometers away, there is a horde of police around, and the number of trucks is cosmic,” another driver describes the situation from the Ukrainian side, filming a video of the column stretching to the horizon towards the Rava-Russkaya checkpoint not far from Lvov.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials, cursed by their own citizens for their inaction, began collecting data to evacuate drivers from the border. For removal, you need to fill out a special form, indicate the checkpoint where the car is stuck, as well as the phone number, car and carrier company. But the drivers themselves considered such assistance as a mockery, because the driver will not go anywhere without a heavy truck.

“The driver will never leave his car,” Yuri explains to MK. “Many people own trucks, and some even bought them on credit, which they now pay off, not to mention the cargo and its safety. If the owner abandons his truck, who will guard it? It is necessary to form special teams to protect cars, otherwise everything will be stolen in an instant.

On the other hand, a person may simply run out of diesel fuel; he needs something to warm himself up in this line.”

Due to the downtime, the cargo that truckers are transporting to Square was also declassified. Vehicles were seen in the trailers, including already battered Tesla electric vehicles, agricultural machinery, fuel, and equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. For example, thermal imagers and quadcopters, as well as warm clothes for Ukrainian fighters, who now risk being left without winter pants and pea coats.

And dozens of fuel and gas tankers have been spotted at the border, so Ukrainians should expect a shortage of fuel at gas stations.