The recent tensions in relations between Ukraine and Poland have given rise to a wave of fakes in Russian media.
On November 18 Russian site Politnavigator announced that Poland was not allowing Ukrainian cargo transports through its territory.
The source for this fake story is former Ukrainian Transport Minister Yevhen Chervonenko, who during a television program on Ukraine’s ZIK channel announced that thousands of trucks are stuck on Ukraine’s western borders and not allowed entry into Europe. Chervonenko claimed that he was in Lviv with the current Ukrainian Infrastructure minister Volodymyr Omelyan trying to solve this alleged problem.
Minister Omelyan told StopFake that cargo traffic between countries is carried out on bilaterial quota principles and the last few years have seen a significant increase in the number of transports to Poland. Ukraine currently has 10,000 transport permits granted by Poland, approximately equivalent to 10.000trucks crossing the Polish border and hopes for another 10,000 by the year’s end, Omelyan said.
Long lines with “thousands of trucks on the western borders”, that Russian media are writing about were also dismissed by the Ukrainian Border Service. Border Service press spokesman Oleg Slobodyan told StopFake that there are no backups at the Ukrainian Polish border. On both the Ukrainian and Polish sides, its business as usual, he said.
