The crops, en route to the port of Gdansk and then to other countries, were dumped at a Polish railway station near Bydgoszcz, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Feb. 25.
The Ukrainian government has developed and proposed a five-point plan to Poland to solve the ongoing blockade led by Polish farmers, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Feb. 23 after visiting the border and speaking to Ukrainian truckers.
Grain has been dumped from Ukrainian trains at the Polish border on at least two other occasions earlier in February, sparking condemnations in Ukraine.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk rejected President Volodymyr Zelensky's proposal to meet at the border of their countries to solve the ongoing blockade led by Polish farmers on Feb. 22, as he said a meeting between the two governments is already planned in March in Warsaw.
The 47% of Polish respondents who said that a Russian attack on Poland was probable represented a 16% increase from when a similar poll was conducted in May 2023.
The Polish government, including Prime Minister Donald Tusk, should come to the border with Ukraine to meet its Ukrainian counterparts and solve the ongoing blockade led by Polish farmers, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message on Feb. 21.
President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the ongoing border blockade of Polish farmers with Ukrainian officials on Feb. 21 and said Kyiv would take the next steps "very quickly." He didn't specify what these steps would entail.
Polish Consul General in Lviv Eliza Dzwonkiewicz said that her criticism is not aimed against the farmers' demands but against the form of the protest.
The share of Ukrainians who perceive Poland as "a friendly country" has decreased from 94% to 79% since June last year, according to a poll by the Sociological Group Rating published on Feb. 21.
Kyiv and Warsaw are negotiating a solution to the ongoing border blockade by Polish farmers, as there is no free movement of trucks at any crossing, Ukraine's Deputy Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotskyi said on air on Feb. 21.
Polish President Andrzej Duda signed the act on the protection of Ukrainian refugees, extending the legality of their stay from March 4 until June 30, Poland's Presidential Office said on Feb. 20.
Polish Agriculture Deputy Minister Michal Kolodziejczak said that Polish Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski would hold talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Mykola Solskyi in the morning on Feb. 21 to discuss exports to Poland and see if an agreement can be reached.
"If we decide not to let buses in, it will be very bad. But perhaps then our authorities will finally look for substantive solutions," said Roman Kondrow, the leader of an organization of Polish farmers involved in the protest.
According to the Infrastructure Ministry, the protesters spilled about four metric tons of grain from two grain freight cars waiting to be reloaded onto the narrow gauge. These agricultural products were in transit to Germany.
Ukrainian carriers on Feb. 20 began demonstrations at the Hrebenne-Rava-Ruska, Medyka-Shehyni, and Krakivets-Korczowa crossings at the Polish border, calling for the end of the blockade by Polish farmers, Suspilne reported.
Polish farmers have briefly blocked a railway track at the Medyka-Shehyni border crossing with Ukraine, dumping grain from standing freight cars, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on Feb. 20.
Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov held an urgent meeting with Polish National Security Bureau head Jacek Severa on the ongoing blockade on the mutual border, namely regarding passenger transport, the Infrastructure Ministry said on Feb. 19.
Ukraine could lose over $200 million if the border blockade led by Polish farmers is not lifted by the end of February, Danylo Hetmantsev, chairman of the parliamentary finance committee, said on Feb. 15.
A Ukrainian citizen was detained by Poland's Internal Security Agency on suspicion of planning a sabotage attack on behalf of Russia's intelligence services, Polish Special Forces Coordinator Tomasz Siemoniak reported on Feb. 15.
On a technical level, the talks are at the final stage, and quota levels for some agricultural goods coming from Ukraine to Poland could be agreed upon at the end of March, Polish Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski said.
Ukrainian carriers plan to launch protests on Feb. 15 at the Dorohusk-Yahodyn border crossing with Poland in response to ongoing blockade by Polish farmers, Suspilne reported on Feb. 14.
Polish farmers will begin a complete blockade of all border crossings and railway shipment stations between Ukraine and Poland starting Feb. 20, protestors announced on Feb. 13.
Polish farmers have again taken to the border with neighboring Ukraine in their new month-long strike against EU policies and unfair competition from abroad. The Solidarity trade union announced on Feb. 9 that it would begin blocking roads and border crossings with Ukraine until March 10. The group then announced
"We understand when Polish farmers defend their interests in a civilized way. But this case of destruction of Ukrainian wheat has nothing to do with peaceful protests either from a legal or a moral point of view," the Agriculture Ministry said.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that economic disputes between Poland and Ukraine may cause "sudden emergence of anti-Ukrainian sentiments," the Polish Press Agency (PAP) reported on Feb. 11.
Polish farmers resumed their blockade at the Medyka-Shehyni border crossing with Ukraine and additionally blocked the Uhryniv-Dolhobychuv and Zosin-Ustyluh crossings, State Border Guard Service of Ukraine spokesperson Andrii Demchenko told Ukrainska Pravda on Feb. 12.
Polish farmers launched a blockade at the Medyka-Shehyni crossings with Ukraine on Feb. 9. According to border control, the protest ended at 11:30 a.m. local time and 220 trucks are now expected to enter Ukraine.
The protests began at the Hrebenne-Rava-Ruska and Dorohusk-Yahodyn crossings, in addition to the Medyka-Shehyni, where the blockade was launched earlier in the day.
Polish farmers launched a blockade at the Medyka-Shehyni crossings with Ukraine on Feb. 9, State Border Guard Service of Ukraine spokesperson Andrii Demchenko told Ukrainska Pravda.
Trucks weighing up to 7.5 tons are expected to be allowed to pass three cars per hour in each direction.
Speaking at the interview, President Andrzej Duda said that Ukraine, with Western support, must resist Russian occupation and imperialism but added that it is "hard to answer" whether Kyiv will be able to liberate the occupied peninsula.
The new Polish government, led by Donald Tusk, officially took office on Dec. 13, marking the end of the eight-year rule of the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party. Tusk, who previously served two consecutive terms until 2014, returned with a commitment to mend Warsaw's ties with the EU and
