Official: Polish border crossing blocked again after temporary reprieve

Traffic is once again blocked at the Dorohusk-Yahodyn crossing on the Polish-Ukrainian border, Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service, told Ukrainska Pravda Dec. 11.

Earlier in the day, Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov announced that the blockade at the crossing point had been lifted and that trucks were again moving along the border.

Dorohusk-Yahodyn is one of four checkpoints that have been blocked by Polish truckers since November in protest of the EU's liberalization of transit rules for Ukrainian carriers.

Demchenko confirmed to Ukrainska Pravda that as of 8 p.m. local time, there was a truck on the Polish side of the checkpoint blocking traffic and preventing trucks from crossing into Ukraine.

Video footage circulating on social media shows a truck parked across the middle of the highway. Ukrainian drivers were told that they could not cross because the truck had broken down.

Kubrakov said on social media that traffic began to resume at 2 p.m. local time, and that 15 vehicles entering Ukraine were being processed at the checkpoint. He also said 25 trucks headed to Poland were being processed at the border.

Polish media reported that Wojciech Sawa, mayor of the Dorohusk district, had broken up the blockade at the border for fear that it would put local jobs at risk.

The reprieve in the blockade appears to have been short-lived. Polish truckers initially launched the demonstration on the grounds that the influx of Ukrainian drivers was harming their livelihoods, and that Ukrainian trucks were carrying Polish goods to other countries.

Ukrainian officials and industry representatives deny the accusations.

Since the Polish truck blockade began, Slovak truckers have also joined the protest, with Hungarian carriers saying they would join the blockade from Dec. 11.

Protests continue at the Hrebenne-Rava-Ruska, Medyka-Shehyni, and the Uhryniv-Dolhobychuv crossings.