Russian embassy in Netherlands alleges blockade of Russian, Belarusian trucks by Customs

The Russian Embassy in the Netherlands, on Friday, alleged Amsterdam's Customs department to block Russian and Belarusian truck drivers from leaving the border area. Taking to

 on Friday, the Embassy alleged the action from the Customs department came due to Russia's 'military operation' in Ukraine.

The Embassy alleged that the action by the Netherlands government has forced truck drivers to sleep in their cabins without money and food. It said that the Consulate does its best to resolve the current crisis in the border region.

"Russian and Belorussian truck drivers massively blocked by Dutch Customs. As a result, people are forced to sleep in cabins without money and food. Our Consulate does its best to solve this serious situation," Russian Embassy in the Netherlands wrote on Twitter. 

According to a report by Canadian Global Television Network, Global News, they saw truckers lined up in queues for 4-5 kilometres near the Belarus border. As per the report, the truckers having Russian and Belarusian number plates were targeted by the Customs department. However, all of them echoed they did not want war and appealed to their President to end it immediately.

"This has to be stopped. We need to live in friendship somehow. Because it’s not only soldiers who die, civilians die too. What’s the difference, Russian or not Russian, we are all people. We’ve got two legs, two arms, a head, two ears, you see. It should be ended," a Russian truck driver, Dimitri Bikov, told Global News.

"Younger ones are aggressive and see us as enemies," says Russian driver

The media reports said some of the truck drivers alleged that they fear being killed by drivers of other nationalities. They said some of the drivers threatened them just because they are Russian nationals.

"Here in this queue we're of all different nationalities, and we’re all finding common ground and communicating in a normal manner. It should be like that in the world," said a Belarusian driver, Viktor Silian, situated about halfway up the queue.

"The older people are calmer, but the younger ones are aggressive and see us as enemies as soon as they see the Russian plates. This isn’t war here, but when you leave home, you don’t know if you’re returning home," Silian added.

It is worth mentioning Russia initiated a full-fledged war against Ukraine nearly two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognising the independence of breakaway regions Donetsk and Luhansk. Putin's action came despite the West's repetitive warning and speculations about his ill-intention to invade Ukraine.

Until then, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had called his Russian counterpart to meet him, seeking a resolution to avert the war. However, on February 24, the Russian troops started a military operation against Ukraine, resulting in the heavy shelling and killing of more than 2,000 Ukrainian civilians.

Image: AP/Unsplash