VIDEO: Lviv Mayor Calls Polish Farmers 'Russian-Affiliated Provocateurs'

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi has labeled Polish farmers as "Russian-affiliated provocateurs" for dumping Ukrainian grain from trucks. He made this statement on his Telegram channel.

Earlier, Rafal Mecler, an activist from the nationalist and Euroskeptic coalition "Confederation," one of the organizers of the protests by Polish farmers, reported that demonstrators had unloaded grain from Ukrainian trucks at the Dorohuski checkpoint.

“Let’s call things by their names. The Ukrainian grain depicted in this photo is what Polish, and in fact, Russian-affiliated provocateurs dumped from Ukrainian trucks. The fake blockade at the border continues,” Sadovyi wrote.

A nationwide protest action by farmers began on February 9, with farmers holding demonstrations across the country, blocking roads and entrances to border checkpoints with Ukraine. One of the main demands of the protesters is to stop the import of agricultural products from Ukraine.

In recent days, farmer protests have occurred in many European countries. The main reasons include the European Commission’s desire to implement green policies and the influx of agricultural products into European markets from Ukrainian international agricultural holdings. The agreement between the EU and Kyiv, which expands the facilitated trade regime, has sparked protests, especially in Brussels.

Polish-Ukrainian relations have significantly strained due to the embargo on Ukrainian grain. On September 15, 2023, the European Commission decided not to extend the import restrictions on four types of Ukrainian agricultural products for several EU border countries, but obligated Kyiv to implement export control measures. Following this, the authorities of Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland announced that they would unilaterally extend the ban. In this regard, Ukraine filed a complaint to the WTO. In response, the three EU countries announced that they would boycott meetings of the coordinating platform concerning Ukrainian grain.