Reactions to the Ukraine crisis… How is Lithuania preparing for war with its neighbor Russia? | policy

Paulakstelis said traffic across the Panemuna Bridge slowed after Russian-backed separatists invaded eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea in 2014. After a large-scale Russian attack in 2022, the rural town is at the center of geopolitical tensions and ongoing challenges.

Walking through a park filled with bright autumn colours, Paulikstilis told Al Jazeera of unusual movements over the past year, including weeks of phone jamming, believed to be a Russian attempt to test Lithuania’s ability to respond. These moves seemed fun to Paulxtelis, who described them as a “childish act.”

He also talked about establishing an open-air cinema on the Russian side that the residents of Panimona can watch, and since 2022 it will be showing an “almost continuous stream,” as he described it, of old Soviet war films. However, from time to time he felt uncomfortable.

On several occasions, rapid gunshots were heard, believed to come from military training in Kaliningrad. One of the explosions was so powerful that the ground beneath it shook.

It is noteworthy that tensions between NATO and Russia have escalated in recent weeks, with reports received from a number of NATO countries about drones penetrating their airspace. On October 2 and 3, Munich Airport in Germany closed its runways for hours after drones were detected. Estonia, in turn, said that Russian MiG-31 fighters had penetrated its airspace for 12 minutes.

The repercussions are scary for some people in Panemone, but there is a sense that there is little they can do given their critical location, Paulekstelis says.

Their town is located near Kaliningrad, which is home to Iskander missile systems capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and is also located near the Suwalki Corridor, a narrow 65-kilometre (40-mile) land corridor between Poland and Lithuania, which separates Kaliningrad from Belarus, and is considered NATO’s most vulnerable choke point.

“If they want to come, they will come here,” Pauloakstelis says, referring to the Russian army. Then he bit into an apple that he had picked from a nearby tree, sighed deeply, and added in a calm tone, “But what can we do?” He added, “History teaches us that we must remain vigilant.”