Pickup trucks and tourniquets bound for UkraineB次元官网网址檚 battlefield are among items stuck in a mileslong line at the border with Poland. Components to build drones to fight off Russian forces are facing weeks of delays.

Ukrainian charities and companies supplying the war-torn countryB次元官网网址檚 military warn that problems are growing as Polish truck drivers show no sign of ending a border blockade that has stretched past a month. The Polish protesters argue that their livelihoods are at stake after the European Union relaxed some transport rules and Ukrainian truckers undercut their business.

While drones will make it to the front line, theyB次元官网网址檙e delayed by two to three weeks, said Oleksandr Zadorozhnyi, operational director of the KOLO foundation, which helps the Ukrainian army with battlefield tech, including drones and communications equipment.

B次元官网网址淭his means that the Russian army will have the ability to kill Ukrainian soldiers and terrorize civilians for several weeks longer,B次元官网网址� he said.

Truck drivers in Poland have blocked access roads to border crossings since Nov. 6, creating lines that stretch for more than 30 kilometers (19 miles) and last up to three weeks in freezing temperatures. The protesters insist that theyB次元官网网址檙e not stopping military transports or humanitarian aid into Ukraine.

B次元官网网址淭his is very puzzling to me, even hard to believe because everybody knows B次元官网网址� those who order, those who expedite and those who do the transport B次元官网网址� that aid for the military passes through without having to wait at all,B次元官网网址� said Waldemar Jaszczur, a protest organizer.

The Polish truckers, meanwhile, say their Ukrainian counterparts are offering lower prices to haul everything from fish to luxury goods across the European Union since getting a temporary waiver on the 27-nation blocB次元官网网址檚 transport rules after RussiaB次元官网网址檚 invasion in 2022.

Despite Poland and other nearby countries being some of UkraineB次元官网网址檚 biggest supporters in the war, resentment has built from truckers and farmers who are losing business to lower-cost Ukrainian goods and services flowing into the worldB次元官网网址檚 biggest trading bloc. It underscores the challenges of integrating Ukraine into the EU if approved.

Now, the commercial clash is spilling over to the battlefield, the Ukrainian charities say.

About 200 pickup trucks needed to transport ammunition and evacuate the wounded from the front line are blocked at the border because B次元官网网址渄eliveries have practically stopped,B次元官网网址� said Ivan Poberzhniak, head of procurement and logistics for Come Back Alive, UkraineB次元官网网址檚 largest charitable organization providing the military with equipment.

The pickup trucks are easy targets for Russia, so itB次元官网网址檚 impossible to deliver enough of them even normally, he said.

When drivers show documents to the Polish truckers saying the vehicles are for UkraineB次元官网网址檚 military, B次元官网网址渋t does not have a significant impact on the protesters,B次元官网网址� Poberzhniak said.

B次元官网网址淲e must understand that during wartime, supply is needed on a daily basis in all directions,B次元官网网址� he said.

Come Back Alive says 3,000 tourniquets also are stuck at the border. ItB次元官网网址檚 been able to deliver drones, generators and batteries from what it has in stock, B次元官网网址渂ut that reserve is running out,B次元官网网址� Poberzhniak said.

The group is exploring alternative supply routes, he says, but there are few options, and the militaryB次元官网网址檚 unfulfilled requests for equipment are building up.

The protesting truckers assert that not all deliveries declared as military aid are really that. They are urging the EU to reinstate the limits on the number of Ukrainian trucks that can enter the bloc.

Jaszczur, the organizer, said Ukrainian truckers have been doing unauthorized transport services across Europe. They are asking B次元官网网址済laringly low pricesB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� 35% lower than what Polish truckers charge B次元官网网址� and are B次元官网网址渄riving us out of the market,B次元官网网址� he said.

The same thing is happening in other countries like Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania, he said. Some Slovak truckers staged a protest of their own in recent days at the Ukrainian border.

Jaszczur says many Polish transport companies are going under because of the pressure from Ukrainian competition.

While there is no quick resolution in sight, a change of leadership in Warsaw offers hope.

The new government is expected to be in place in the next week and almost certainly will be led by the pro-EU centrist Donald Tusk. He has criticized the outgoing governmentB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渋naction,B次元官网网址� offering hope to businesses hurt by the blockade but also to the protesters.

B次元官网网址淲e will look for solutions that should satisfy Polish transporters, but we will not tolerate any events that threaten Polish security. Who inspired or initiated them?B次元官网网址� Tusk said Friday, stressing that Ukraine is a strategic point for Poland as it fights RussiaB次元官网网址檚 invasion.

Ukrainian truck driver Ivan Itchenko is one of those eagerly awaiting a resolution. He has been waiting in Poland for days with hundreds of others, trying to stay warm at a highway rest stop until he can bring his load of salmon and herring to Ukrainian supermarkets.

B次元官网网址淚 clean the truck, clear the snow. Polish customs officers come and ask for documents three times a day,B次元官网网址� Itchenko said Thursday.

The 61-year-old hoped his turn to drive through the Korczowa-Krakovets crossing would come Saturday.

B次元官网网址淚 live in Chernihiv (region), near Russia. Every day there are attacks. Now I am stuck at the Polish border. What do they want?B次元官网网址�

With temperatures falling, drivers are experiencing difficult conditions, choosing not to heat their trucks to save fuel and facing limited access to food and bathrooms, Ukrainian media say.

Polish and Ukrainian officials are negotiating with help from the European Commission, the EUB次元官网网址檚 executive branch, but the protest has only expanded.

B次元官网网址淲e do not see any light in the tunnel, we do not see any authorities, any government or the EU Commission really giving attention to this,B次元官网网址� said Dariusz Matulewicz, head of the truckersB次元官网网址� association in Szczecin, a city in western Poland.

PolandB次元官网网址檚 outgoing government has B次元官网网址渘othing against supporting UkraineB次元官网网址� but it B次元官网网址渕ust not allow the aid activity to be done at the expense of Polish firms,B次元官网网址� deputy minister for infrastructure, Rafal Weber, said Monday in Brussels.

The EU has pressed Warsaw to find a way to end the blockade but stood by its deal with Kyiv. ItB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渂eneficial to the European market, to Ukraine and to Moldova,B次元官网网址� said Adina Valean, EU transport commissioner who also threatened sanctions against Poland.

Ukrainian officials say the truckersB次元官网网址� protest adds more stress to their economy and only serves RussiaB次元官网网址檚 interests.

Ukrainian exports have dropped by 40% through the four blocked border crossings, and the state budget has lost some 9.3 billion hryvnias ($254 million) due to the shortfall in customs payments, said Danylo Hetmantsev, head of the finance and tax committee in UkraineB次元官网网址檚 parliament.

B次元官网网址淯ndoubtedly, this is a powerful blow to our economy and our exports,B次元官网网址� Hetmantsev said Tuesday on state TV.

AP journalists Vanessa Gera in Warsaw and Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed.

Hanna Arhirova, Karl Ritter And Monika Scislowska, The Associated Press

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