The handshake is firm and determined. The beard is dense. Almost as dense as the forest that surrounds the small village. He smiles. Daumantas Kupstys is in his early thirties. He is a lawyer and has an office job in the neighboring town. But it is here at home that he is most comfortable. In Sangruda. A small village in the middle of the Suwalki corridor. On the Lithuanian side. LOVE OF HOME: Daumantas Kupstys thrives at home in Sangruda, a small village in the middle of the Suwalki corridor. But still he feels an uneasiness about what might happen at home. Photo: Joakim Reigstad / news A grey, sleepy cat welcomes us with narrow, dull eyes. It is not often that strangers come to visit. The Suwalki corridor is named after the Polish border town of the same name. A beautiful, winding, wooded and occasionally windswept landscape. It is the border area between Poland and Lithuania. WELCOME: Sangruda is a small village with just over 300 inhabitants. Photo: Joakim Reigstad / news But the proximity to both Russia and Belarus means that people here carry a fear. – Yes, I am afraid that war will break out here. Then everything will change. I am obviously afraid of losing someone close to me. And you can be killed yourself, says Daumantas calmly. – I am a pacifist. I don’t like war. I don’t have military training either. A little out of the blue, he adds that he does more than sit in an office. Because in his spare time, as a sort of side hustle, he fixes motorcycles and tractors. Right now the project is to restore an IZH Planeta 3. A light motorcycle produced in the Soviet era in the 70s. MOTORCYCLE REPAIR: Daumantas restores old motorcycles in his spare time. Photo: Joakim Reigstad / news The making takes place in the garage. His house is safely situated between his parents’ residence on one side, and his grandparents’ farm on the other. The whole family is gathered here. He continues talking as he revs up the old craft. – The Russians do not follow any rules or the morality of war. They attack without warning. So that’s what people are afraid will happen. Many who live here are considering moving, especially the younger ones. Others are convinced that they will enlist and defend our country. What about Daumantas himself? What will he do? The man who started the conversation by calling himself a pacifist. The difficult geography There is so much green everywhere. GREEN: The village is lush and in the small lakes around it there is a vibrant fish population. At least according to Daumantas. Photo: Joakim Reigstad / news The town is surrounded by small lakes with a living fish population. People grow their own vegetables. The center has a small general store, a church and a medical centre. There was a pharmacy here until a few weeks ago. Then the pharmacist died and no one was ready to take over. An elderly man works his way past on a heavy-duty bicycle. He balances a shopping bag with one hand on the handlebars. The man nevertheless gets to raise his other hand in greeting. Everybody knows everybody. How can this area, by a number of defense analysts, be considered NATO’s weakest point? A possible next target for Vladimir Putin if he experiences progress on the battlefield in Ukraine. We simply have to deal with maps and geography: the Suwalki corridor lies between Poland, Lithuania, Russia (Kaliningrad) and Belarus. The area is the Baltic countries’ only land connection to the rest of NATO and the EU. Because Belarus allows Russian troop movements through its territory, control of the Suwalki corridor would provide direct access to the year-round port and naval base of Baltijsk. Such an occupation would also mean that the Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania would have no land connection to any NATO or EU -country. Russian control of the Suwałki corridor could enable Russia to strengthen its Baltic fleet. The water in the port of St. Petersburg, further north, usually freezes to ice in winter. The strategically important location, few inhabitants, forests in which to hide and the short distance mean that the area is often referred to as “NATO’s weakest point”. At the medical centre, they have cleaned out the basement. There’s something about being ahead of the curve. Should an attack happen, at least they have the bomb room ready. BOMB ROOM: Doctor Laimutė Rėkienė shows off the basement that has been cleared and can be used as a bomb room – should the worst happen. Photo: Joakim Reigstad / news Knows uncertainty Laimutė Rėkienė is a doctor and manager of the eight other employees, one of whom is the daughter who is studying medicine. – The situation, if Russia attacks us, could be as bad as in Mariupol. We would have experienced some absolutely terrible destruction, Rėkienė believes. The main reason for that is that if the area were to end up in Russian hands, all the Baltic countries would be landlocked. In other words, it will be completely impossible to transport material, personnel, auxiliary equipment or other supplies over land. Since the area is so narrow, only 66 kilometers at its narrowest, it will be easy to attack with, for example, missiles from Russian or Belarusian soil. KNOWS EVERYONE: Laimutė Rėkienė knows almost all the inhabitants of Sangruda through her job as a village doctor. Photo: Joakim Reigstad / news Therefore. Bomb room. – We have cleaned and examined the rooms and believe they will be safe, she says. The walls are thick and the basement can probably fit almost the entire town’s population. – But I just have to say that I didn’t think about this before Russia invaded Ukraine. After the war started, we have felt a lot of uncertainty, she says. The Kaliningrad problem To understand the importance of the Suwalki corridor, one cannot avoid mentioning Kaliningrad. Out on the Curonian Spit. The long piece of land all the way out towards the Baltic Sea. Five short miles from Kaliningrad city. The historian Vitalija Teresa Jonušienė works here. – The problems actually started when Kaliningrad ended up in Soviet hands after the peace in 1945, she says. BECAME SOVIET: The Lithuanian historian Vitalija Teresa Jonušienė believes many of today’s problems can be linked to the fact that the Soviet Union received Kaliningrad after the peace in 1945. Photo: AFP For Kaliningrad, which since the 18th century had been part of Germany (or Prussia) fell into the final phase of the negotiation to the Soviet Union. Josef Stalin expelled the German population from Königsberg, as the city was called under German rule. Instead, he forced Russians, and to some extent Ukrainians and Belarusians to settle in the city. Since Kaliningrad was not officially part of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, the area did not belong to Lithuania, when they declared independence in 1990 after the Soviet occupation. It is speculated that Lithuania was offered the area several times, but each time declined. These claims are highly uncertain. A “bomb” When the Soviet Union fell, Kaliningrad was geographically cut off from Russia – they became a Russian semi-exclave. In the years that followed, both Poland and Lithuania became NATO and EU countries. EXPLAINER: Vitalija Teresa Jonušienė knows the history and strained relations between Russia and Lithuania well. Photo: Joakim Reigstad / news But back then, relations between the countries were better, and agreements were put in place on visa-free transit journeys and easier transport for, among other things, coal, metal, wood and technology products. After the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, this has come to an end. Something that has stirred the minds of Russia – The biggest mistake that was made, at least in my opinion, was to give the northern part of East Prussia to the Soviet Union. The result is that we are simply in great danger now. If it had been done differently, we would not have had this “bomb” that can explode at any time, says Jonušienė. WARSHIP: The naval base in Baltijsk in Kaliningrad houses large parts of the Russian Baltic fleet A fleet which was built up under the leadership of the Norwegian-born admiral Cornelius Cruys for approx. 320 years ago. Photo: Maxim Shemetov / Reuters – Now the Russians have a lot of military power in Kaliningrad. There is a large army as well as air force and naval vessels. We can look back on history and it is difficult to find times when it has been more dangerous than now. The Suwalki corridor is called NATO’s weakest point, the historian pauses in his reasoning. – I don’t think it will end well if Russia attacks us. In border countries Where the Suwalki corridor ends there is a disused border station. On the other side of the Širvinta river, with a flow so low that it is almost invisible between the bushes, lies Russia and the town that has given the student race its name: Širvinta. The only city that was never rebuilt after World War II. CLOSED: The border crossing at Kudirkos Naumiestis has been closed and remains strictly guarded. Photo: Joakim Reigstad / news This is a place where, at least apparently, it would have been easy to get into Lithuania. Although the border is guarded by cameras and barbed wire fences. So why exactly is the fear there? Lithuania is a NATO country. Covered by NATO’s Article 5. There are NATO soldiers on both sides of the corridor, approx. 15 kilometers inland. Among other things, Norwegian forces. Daumantas Kupstys puts it into words. – If Russia attacks us, it will take a long time to get an overview of the situation in this area. We have a lot of forest, which is perfect for military forces to hide in. Both Lithuanian authorities and NATO need to pay more attention to this area. We are simply too easy a target, he says firmly. MONITORED: A lot has been invested from the Lithuanian side in monitoring the border with Russia. A lot of forest makes it easier for enemy forces to move without being detected. Photo: Joakim Reigstad / news Something that occupies everyone The basketball court has seen better days. Weeds that shoot up through the asphalt do not contribute to an even track surface in any case. At the cultural center nearby, they have a relatively sparsely furnished music room. A small costume warehouse and three full-time employees. The cultural center will be for all residents of the entire Kalvarijų municipality, where the village of Sangruda is located. A gathering point. In the middle of the Suwalki corridor. Laima Kupstienė is the prime mover here. The municipality’s head of culture. Before, they often collaborated with artists in Russia. Especially in Kaliningrad. That’s the end of it. – For example, we had a project with a Russian theater group. The financing was in order on both the Lithuanian and Russian sides. Now, of course, the agreement has been terminated, she says. People in the municipality had not accepted such a collaboration anyway. CHIEF OF CULTURE: Laima Kupstienė notices that people, including herself, have become safer in the last year and a half. Photo: Joakim Reigstad / news – There is a great fear here, yes, says the head of cultural engagement. – People in this region believe that we will be the first to be attacked. If we didn’t have the border with Russia, the fear would probably not be as great. But we also see a threat from the Belarusian side, since they support Russia, she sighs a little and adds: – We also know, from the side of history, that wars have often been fought here… At least she is referring to Napoleon- wars and the two world wars, as well as a number of small and medium-sized disputes over control of the land area. A pacifist at war. HOME: Daumantas Kupstys thrives together with his parents and grandparents in Sangruda. Photo: Joakim Reigstad / news On the farm, Daumantas Kupstys is about to finish the tour. He starts an old tractor and laughs smugly at the sound of the engine. But it was this question that hung a bit in the air. What does a man in his early thirties do if the enemy comes through the forest. – I have no war experience, he says a little modestly. But adds quickly. – But I train every day and am in good physical shape. So if something were to happen here. That we are being attacked. At least I’m not going to run away… He takes a short break. – No. I wanted to find a weapon and do what I could to defend myself and my home. THE FARM: Daumantas Kupstys says he wildly seized weapons on the farm and his home was threatened. Although he is a pacifist. Photo: Joakim Reigstad / news The fear of war is real in Lithuania, where NATO’s summit will take place in three days Song and music boost morale in Ukraine African countries experience intense cross-pressure due to Russia’s propaganda push in Africa Environmentalists in Shetland protest against Norway
ttn-69
The Suwalki corridor is often referred to as NATO’s weakest point – Urix
