Air Raid Alerts Stall Ukraine-Poland Border Crossings

Air-raid alerts continued to disrupt crossings between Ukraine and Poland on Wednesday, Oct. 21, with long freight queues on the Polish side and cars and buses waiting to leave Ukraine.

Volyn Customs said repeated Russian attacks had interrupted operations at road crossings 61 times between Oct. 10 and 19, adding up to almost 53 hours of downtime.

Nearly 1,000 trucks carrying imports were waiting to enter Ukraine from Poland at Dorohusk as of 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 20. Queues had also formed on both sides of the border at Ustyluh.

“Forced delays are above all about safety and lives, not about timeframes or customs payments,” the customs authority said.

It added that interruptions were slowing progress in Ukraine’s e-Queue system for vehicles leaving the country.

Morning queues ease at two busy crossings

The figures of 90 cars and 22 buses at Krakivets, and 100 cars at Shehyni, referred to the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 20.

The State Border Guard Service’s western regional directorate reported those queues at 9 p.m. Shehyni also had 30 pedestrians waiting.

By 9 a.m. on Wednesday, the queues at both crossings had decreased, according to an updated border service bulletin carried by Varianty.

Krakivets had 20 cars and 15 buses waiting, while Shehyni had 50 cars and 60 pedestrians. No buses were listed in the Shehyni queue.

Elsewhere, Ustyluh had 35 cars and two buses waiting, Nyzhankovychi had 10 cars and four buses, Uhryniv had five buses, and Smilnytsia had one bus.

Other Topics of Interest

From Resilience to Resurrection: Ukraine’s Family Businesses and the Next Economic Miracle

Ukraine’s family firms have survived war. Now they could drive a regional economic revival if Europe backs their reinvention with capital, trust and real partnerships.

No car or bus queues were reported at Hrushiv or Rava-Ruska at that time.

The figures capture queue lengths at specific times rather than guaranteeing how quickly travelers will cross. Another air-raid alert can interrupt processing even at a checkpoint where relatively few vehicles are waiting.

Longest published waits affect freight entering Ukraine

Poland’s official border-information portal listed an estimated 40-hour wait for trucks leaving Poland through Dorohusk on Wednesday morning. At Hrebenne, the published estimate was 26 hours.

Those figures concern freight traveling toward Ukraine. They do not establish that car passengers or bus travelers leaving Ukraine face the same delays.

For passenger traffic leaving Poland, the portal showed much shorter estimates: about two hours for buses at Korczowa and one hour for cars at Medyka.

The portal updates its estimates eight times daily.

Volyn Customs said it continued processing goods despite blackouts, although operating conditions remained unpredictable.

The authority also reminded travelers that shelters had been installed at Yahodyn and Ustyluh in 2022. Signs direct drivers and passengers toward them, and border officials can explain how to reach the nearest shelter.

Russian strikes add pressure to western routes

The disruption comes amid repeated Russian attacks across western Ukraine.

Missile and drone strikes on Oct. 19 cut electricity supplies in Volyn and Rivne and damaged homes near Lviv. Volyn authorities later reported about 68,000 metering points without power after attacks affecting several communities.

Regional officials said emergency work was proceeding when security conditions allowed. Renewed attacks also complicated efforts to restore electricity in Rivne region.

Border delays were already a significant concern for Ukrainian businesses before the latest interruptions.

A survey of 345 exporters and importers, published in April, found that 48.7% identified border queues as a problem. Insufficient crossing capacity was cited by 29.5%, while 29.3% pointed to technical equipment at customs stations.

The survey examined broader customs problems before the current disruption, which has added repeated security-related stoppages to existing pressures on cross-border movement.