Szymon Rakowski

MAXIMUM REPOST PLEASE. Here is a story about what happened to my friend in Poland, because maybe this reaches someone who can actually help. My friends from SAB UA spent almost two years getting an American HMMWV from Canada to Ukraine. This was not some random military vehicle driven across Europe without paperwork. It has an American re-export licence confirming it is demilitarised and allowed for civilian use, Canadian export documents, Estonian import/export licences, declarations, end-user certificate, request from the Ukrainian military unit and Canadian civilian registration. Basically a mountain of paperwork. But because the HMMWV was originally manufactured for the military, one document still contains the classification ML6.a. And this tiny code became a very big problem in Poland. The convoy arrived at the Polish border last Thursday. Five vehicles passed, but the HMMWV and my Estonian friend Jan Laar, who volunteered as the driver, were detained. And not for a few hours. The first night Jan slept inside the HMMWV. Food and water eventually ran out and at one point he literally ate cat food with mineral water because that was what he had. There was no proper toilet and the nights are already cold. Later another shift moved him into a tiny holding cell, allowed him to buy food, shower and even order pizza. And then somehow he was basically forgotten in that cell for two days, until Monday when management came back and someone finally dealt with the situation. His passport and documents had also been taken. Altogether my friend spent around five days there. Jan is not a criminal, smuggler or someone transporting military equipment for profit. He is an Estonian and EU citizen who volunteered his own time to drive aid more than 2,000 km toward Ukraine. On Monday he was finally released and thankfully there is no huge fine or criminal case. But the HMMWV is still detained in Poland. SAB UA has now been told they need another document from the Polish Ministry of Development and Technology, either permission allowing transit through Poland and import into Ukraine, or confirmation that such permission is not required. The answer can take one month. Potentially two. Meanwhile the vehicle sits there while Ukrainians who were supposed to receive it are waiting. Nobody is asking Poland to ignore its laws. But something is seriously wrong when volunteers can spend almost two years obtaining American, Canadian, Estonian and Ukrainian documents and still discover at another EU border that one classification means another national permit is required. So MAXIMUM REPOST please. We need this to reach someone in Poland who can actually help: Ministry officials, diplomats, customs or strategic-goods specialists, lawyers, volunteer organisations, Estonian or Ukrainian representatives, or anyone who has dealt with ML6.a transit permits. If you know someone, please tag them, share this or connect them with SAB UA. The HMMWV needs to get out of Poland and to the Ukrainians waiting for it. 🇺🇦 Original post with the full story: facebook.com/share/p/1Hm8ASg…