HQ set up for assisting Ukrainian drivers blocked on border with Poland

MOSCOW. Nov 20 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Restoration Ministry, industry associations and carriers have set up the headquarters for assisting Ukrainian drivers, Ukrainian media said, citing Deputy Prime Minister, Restoration Minister Alexander Kubrakov as saying.

It is a key task of the headquarters to support Ukrainian drivers and provide them with food, drinking water, drugs and fuel. "Ukrainian drivers have been blocked on the Polish border for over ten days. The line is more than 30 kilometers long in the direction of Yagodin, it is over ten kilometers long in the direction of Rava Ruska, and more than 16 kilometers long in the direction of Krakovets," Kubrakov said on social media.

The headquarters will be working until the border is unblocked, Kubrakov said. An initiative team was deployed on the border on Sunday with 11,000 food sets, drinking water and drugs. In addition, the ministry and relevant agencies will assist in the evacuation of drivers in the Ukrainian territory should that be necessary.

Ukrainian Transport Union First Vice-President Vladimir Balin said earlier that the stranded drivers had found themselves in a serious situation: they are low on water and food, do not have proper sanitary amenities, and some vehicles are out of fuel.

Deputy Restoration Minister Sergei Derkach said, for his part, that the Polish authorities had installed a number of dry toilets for drivers but did not provide them with food and water. The shops they could use are far away, and police have blocked the way to one shop for fear of clashes between protesters and Ukrainian drivers.

It was also reported that the number of checkpoints blocked for trucks on the Ukrainian-Polish border might increase from three to four from November 21: the Medyka-Shegini will be added to Yagodin-Dorohusk, Krakovets-Korchova and Rava Ruska - Hrebenne.

According to the Restoration Ministry, 20,000 vehicles are blocked on the Ukrainian-Polish border, and truck traffic has contracted 20%-25%.

The lines of vehicles continue to grow at the blocked checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Polish border, and the situation is the most complicated at Yagodin-Dorohusk. There, the line was 1 month 1 day 22 hours and 5 minutes long on Saturday, according to the eCherga electronic line service, and 2,521 trucks were waiting for their turn to go through the checkpoint from Ukraine.