Police requested that volunteers hand out the food in the hopes of preventing a demonstration. Police told YLE that truck drivers had planned to shutdown the road leading to the border crossing checkpoint at Imatra due to their hunger.
They say the move to rapidly distribute food prevented more public transport disturbances and costs to society. Critics complained that donations and rescue services were misused when members of the local Finnish Red Cross and the local volunteer fire department doled out food to hungry drivers.
Meanwhile the newspaper Etelä-Saimaa reported that nearly 100 Russian truck drivers filed a complaint with the Finnish embassy in Russia on December 23rd. The complaint called for the embassy to take note of the truck queues which had been going on for days. The letter also included a threat to take direct action if the situation does not improve.
Long lines of trucks built up on the Christmas holiday on highways leading to border crossing points. Tailbacks of over twenty kilometres were reported on roads leading to the Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa and Imatra crossing points into Russia. Some drivers were stranded for up to three days.