Poland, together with NATO allied battle groups, will hold tactical exercises in the Baltic (Vistula) Spit area bordering the Kaliningrad region. In this respect writer Publication of the RAR with reference to Major Magdalena Koscinska, press secretary of the 16th Pomeranian Mechanized Division.
The exercises, code-named Zalev-23, will take place between 27-31 March. Units of the 16th Pomeranian Mechanized Division will join them: ground forces, Navy, logistics and support services, as well as allied forces from the NATO battalion group – a total of 2.5 thousand people and about 500 pieces of equipment.
According to Koscinska, the main element of the maneuvers will be the forcing of the Baltic Spit: soldiers will pass over vehicles, conditionally transferring damaged equipment.
It is stated that the main purpose of “Zalev-23” is counter-terrorism cooperation to save the object and the hostages. In addition, Poland and NATO will conduct naval reconnaissance exercises in the direction of the Gdansk and Kaliningrad (Vistula) gulfs.
The representative of the Polish Army noted that Zalev-23 will be the largest military exercise in 2023.
The Baltic Spit is a narrow 65 km long strip of land that separates the Kaliningrad Bay from the main part of the Gdansk Bay in the Baltic Sea. The border between Poland and Russia runs along the spit. On the east side of the spit is Baltiysk, the westernmost Russian city, and on the west side is the Polish city of Konty Rybatske.
After the start of the Russian military special operation in Ukraine, Warsaw has repeatedly announced its intention to strengthen its armed forces in the regions surrounding the Kaliningrad region.
On March 17, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced that the 16th mechanized division stationed in Olsztyn, 100 km from Kaliningrad, would be reinforced by the American HIMARS MLRS. Warsaw ordered them from Washington in 2019.
Blaschak’s decision, “The 16th mechanized division is getting stronger every day … The task of the Polish authorities is to strengthen our armed forces in such a way that Vladimir Putin does not dare to attack Poland.”
In addition to HIMARS, the division should receive South Korean K2 tanks and K9 artillery mounts.
On March 24, Miroslava Aleksandrovich, press secretary of the Warmia-Mazury Department of the Republican Border Guard, reported that the Polish army has built a 100-kilometer barbed wire fence on the border of the Kaliningrad region.
“Barbed wire fence construction is currently underway in most areas under the jurisdiction of individual Border Guard outposts. “A total of 107 kilometers of this barrier has already been built,” said Aleksandrovich. He added that almost half of the land border between Poland and Russia is fenced in this way.
The Polish Army began erecting the wall in November last year to guard against waves of immigrants. The fence consists of three rows of barbed wire 2.5 meters high and 3 meters wide. In response, Kaliningrad Governor Anton Alikhanov suggested that Poland build a wall from Kaliningrad bricks.
“I think brick burning is very expensive in Poland considering the cost of gas, but we have an excellent Fifth Element factory in Krasnoznamensk, ready to sell them building materials if necessary. Even with a small discount,” said the regional president.
In March 2023, Warsaw also planned to start building a barrier equipped with electronic sensors along its 199 kilometer land border with Russia. The cost of the project is estimated at 373 million zloty (approximately $85 million).