Barbed wire, armored carriers, and soldiers of the Latvian army: this was the view on Monday for residents of Krāslava municipality and truck drivers who were travelling along the transit road at the Krāslava–Belarus border.
Delaying an enemy not just in the woods, for example, but on an intense traffic highway near the border inspection post is also an unprecedented challenge for experienced soldiers.
“Militarily, this is a very important road, here is the A6 highway leading from Belarus. In particular, there is very limited mobility, in principle impossible movement if the road is blocked, because there are water barriers to both the right and the left," explained the Commander of the 35th Infantry Battalion of the National Guard, Jānis Svilpe.
“An opponent can't drive straight over, he's forced to stop, step out of the vehicle. A stopped opponent is a vulnerable opponent,” said Mārcis Umbraško, officer of the National Armed Forces Engineering-Technical Company.
Besides the barbed wires, the enemy can be delayed by concrete blocks. The roadblocks were placed within ann hour.
The challenge in such training is agreement with road and land owners. Traffic was not stopped in full on Monday, and the roadblocks were on the road for about an hour. During military training, traffic was only partially blocked, with an average of 3,000 vehicles traveling by road A6 daily. For the most part, drivers perceived temporary restrictions with understanding.
