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Latvia digging anti-tank ditches on border with Russia, Belarus — media

Kaspars Lazdins noted that once the ditches were ready, the so-called dragon’s teeth barriers would be set up on the border

VILNIUS, May 3. /TASS/. Latvia has started digging anti-tank ditches along its border with Russia and Belarus as part of a Baltic "line of defense," the LSM.lv media outlet reports.

Work is underway just one kilometer from the Russian border, next to the Terekhovo border checkpoint. "We are digging up the road here to create an anti-tank ditch in order to be able to prevent transport vehicles, including tanks, from moving along the road when the need arises," Lieutenant Colonel Kaspars Lazdins, a Latvian engineer, told the news website. According to him, the line of defense is being established based on the natural landscape that includes rivers, swamps and forests.

He added that once the ditches were ready, the so-called dragon’s teeth barriers would be set up on the border. Lazdins said that minefields would be "an emergency measure in case of military activities." Earlier, retired Polish General Waldemar Skrzypczak suggested mining the border with Russia for better protection. "At this point, the plan is to establish barriers without using explosives," the Latvian engineer noted.

The Estonian Defense Ministry announced on January 19 that the Baltic nations had reached an agreement to establish "a line of defense" on the Russian border. The ministry specified that one of the goals of creating "an area of various fortifications" would be "to ensure protection from a military threat." The Postimees newspaper, in turn, reported that the country’s authorities would build about 600 bunkers on the eastern border due to the alleged threat coming from Russia.

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