Poland begins construction of temporary barbed wire fence on border with Russia

Poland has begun putting up a temporary barbed wire barrier on its border with Russia’s semi-exclave Kaliningrad region, Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency reports, citing Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak.

“Since the Kaliningrad airport now welcomes flights from the Middle East and Africa, I have decided to boost security measures on the border. Combat engineers will begin setting up a temporary fence on the border between Poland and the Kaliningrad region already today,” he said.

The barrier will consist of 3 rows of barbed wire, 2.5 meters tall and 3 meters wide, the minister noted.

Wojciech Skurkiewicz, senior Polish defence official, mentioned the national border control service’s plans to build a wall on the Russian border back in February. Dmitry Lyskov, spokesperson for the Kaliningrad region government, then said that Russia already had a fence on its side, while Poland did not have one.

Poland borders the Russian semi-exclave in the north, the total length of the border is 203.3 km.

Warsaw has already built a fence on Belarusian border, it is equipped with night vision security cameras, motion sensors and other electronic devices. The construction is expected to be finished by the end of autumn. The decision to build the wall was made amid the recent migration crisis.

The migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border dramatically unfolded in early November 2021. Thousands of Iraqi and Syrian migrants with bags and children then arrived at the Bruzgi-Kuznica border checkpoint. They set up tents and started campfires. The refugees attempted to storm through wire fences into Poland several times.