Ukraine Asks to Move Customs Checks Into the EU After Russian Drones Target Lorry Queues

Ukraine wants customs inspections for its exports moved onto European Union (EU) territory, because lorries waiting at the border to carry agricultural produce into the bloc have become a target for Russian attacks, the Financial Times reported.

The border has been hit before. In September, debris from a Russian drone set fire to a petrol station and several trucks near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk crossing with Poland, one of the main road routes for military and humanitarian supplies into Ukraine. Air-raid alerts regularly stop traffic, and truck customs clearance has taken up to 40 hours at some crossings. Lorries parked in long queues on the Ukrainian side are easy to locate and cannot shelter from attack.

Kyiv describes a war in which drones are the main weapon on both sides. Ukraine's Defense Forces have struck 408,000 Russian drones since the start of the year, the state agency Ukrinform reported. No independent source has verified that figure. Moscow is reporting attacks from the other direction. Russia's air defenses shot down five drones approaching Moscow overnight, according to TASS.

Ukraine is also trying to reduce its dependence on a single American company for communications. Finnish firms including the satellite-imaging company ICEYE announced a plan to help Ukraine build its own satellite system, which the Kyiv Independent linked to what it called a Starlink crisis. "Ukraine needs secure, sovereign, and high-performance satellite communications systems that it controls," ICEYE Chief Executive Rafal Modrzewski said.