Lithuania has installed “dragon teeth” near the border between Russia and Belarus, according to a post on the Lithuanian army’s Facebook page.
The dragon teeth are placed at the unused border checkpoints Shumskas, Lavoriškės, Raigardas, Latežeris on the border with Belarus, as well as at the unused border checkpoint Romaniškės on the border with Russia and in some other places,” the Lithuanian military said.
According to the Lithuanian army, the deployment of “dragon teeth” is not related to the Zapad exercise – it is a planned activity within the framework of the Baltic Defence Line project.
“This is-a small part of a long-term counter-mobility plan that will reduce and limit the ability of military equipment to physically enter Lithuanian territory from Belarus and Russia,” the military explained.
Recently, there have been at least two cases of drone flights from the Belarusian territory to Lithuania: July 10, a Russian drone “Gerbera,” imitating “Shahed,” flew there, it was without explosives, and July 28, another drone “Gerbera” flew over Vilnius and fell at a firing range a hundred kilometres from the border, it was loaded with explosives weighing two kilograms.
After the latest incident, Lithuania strengthened its air defences. It also announced plans to strengthen the border and purchase new means to detect and combat drones.
August 12, the Ministry of Defence of Belarus announced that the joint exercise “West-2025” with Russia would be held from 12 to 16 September. The main purpose of the exercise is to test the capabilities of Belarus and the Russian Federation to ensure security and repel possible aggression. The number of servicemen, who will participate in the exercise, has not yet been announced.
Initially, the Belarusian authorities stressed the plannedness and regularity of these exercises, but recently they have been increasingly claiming that they are a response to “militarisation” in neighbouring Poland and the Baltic States.
Earlier, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia called on the EU to build a defence line along the bloc’s 700-kilometre border with Russia and Belarus. Some EU diplomats estimated its cost at around 2.5 billion euros.