"A no-man's-land only about 15 meters [16 yards] wide forms the border between Lithuania and Belarus, a close ally of Russia. Two metal fences line the 600-kilometer-long strip of land. The one on the Lithuanian side is topped with barbed wire. Above it, surveillance cameras rotate regularly from left to right, making a humming sound as they zoom in and out."
"Fears that there could be breaches at the border have risen in Lithuania since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. These have been exacerbated by Zapad 2025, joint maneuvers between Russia and Belarus involving tens of thousands of soldiers that are scheduled to take place from September 12 to 16. Zapad, which means west in Russian, is the name given to these exercises, which began in 1977 and have taken place every four years since with interruptions mainly on Belarusian territory."
A no-man's-land about 15 meters wide separates Lithuania and Belarus and is lined by two metal fences. The Lithuanian-side fence is topped with barbed wire and monitored by rotating surveillance cameras. Fears of border breaches rose after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Those fears increased ahead of Zapad 2025, joint Russia-Belarus maneuvers scheduled for September 12–16 involving tens of thousands of troops. The exercises will include training with tanks, machine guns and Oreshnik missiles reportedly capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Lithuania's border guards have received extra training and will increase patrols amid concerns that migrants could be used provocatively.
Read at www.dw.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]