On February 11, 2024, near the border crossing of Dorohusk in Poland, protesters damaged Ukrainian trucks and spilled grain from them onto the ground. A video of this incident quickly spread on the internet and provoked an angry reaction from people.
“We understand that the Poles are defending their interests, but the situation with the grain spilled from Ukrainian trucks by the protesters is, in fact, a crime”, stated Alona Lebedieva, the owner of the Ukrainian diversified industrial and investment group of companies, “Aurum Group”.
“Ukrainians harvest crops with sweat and blood, combine operators risk their lives on landmines, and those working in the front-line regions operate under the threat of shelling. Today, cultivating wheat in Ukraine is not just hard work; it is lethally dangerous. Characterizing the actions of certain protesters as anything other than a crime is difficult“, noted Lebedieva.
She also pointed out that Ukrainian agrarians are currently facing extremely challenging conditions – part of the agricultural land is occupied by the enemy, thousands of hectares of fields are mined, and much equipment has been destroyed and burned. People lack circulating and credit funds. The situation with the border blockade goes against the interests not only of Ukrainian businesses but also Polish ones. Ultimately, it benefits Russia.
“The export of grain significantly helps Ukrainians survive in the conditions of war. Russia initially attempted to destroy the sea routes for exporting the harvest by bombing port infrastructure. We withstood that. And today, on the other side, our friendly Poles are organizing a grain blockade on the roads. Such actions play into the hands of the Russians and undermine the unity of Europe. In the civilized world, we should resolve all conflicts jointly and constructively, not through blockades and destruction“, emphasized Alona Lebedieva.
Currently, Polish farmers have continued the border blockade. The Ukrainian side has already reported the incident with spilled grain to the police.
Recall: Protests against the export of Ukrainian grain by Polish farmers began in September of last year. They claim “uncontrolled import of agrarian and food products from Ukraine that do not adhere to European Union standards”.
Ukrainian diplomats have stated that maintaining an open border is a matter of our state’s defense capability.