Poland sets up sapper battalion near Belarus border

July 24, BPN. The Polish army will organize a sapper battalion in Augustów to secure NATO’s eastern flank, Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak tweeted on July 23. It will be part of the 1st Infantry Division.

The unit is being established from scratch and more units may be set up later, he added.

Augustów is located in the area known as the Suwałki Gap, a narrow section of Polish and Lithuanian territories separating Belarus from Russia’s exclave of Kaliningrad. Its potential occupation may cut off the land link between the Baltic countries and the European Union allowing Russia to quickly transfer arms and military equipment to Kaliningrad.

Earlier, Polish President Andrzej Duda urged NATO to pay more attention to the Suwałki Gap potentially exposed to hybrid attacks.