Various locations, Lithuania – Along the banks of the Nemunas River, flags appear to be a fundamental feature.
On one side, in the sleepy Lithuanian town of Panemune, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, and European Union flags flutter in the wind.
On the other, a Russian flag towers over the Russian city of Sovetsk. On a nearby building is an illuminated decorative Z, a symbol used to show support for the Russian military’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.
A solitary fisherman carefully sails under the Queen Louise Bridge, which connects Lithuania with the Kaliningrad region, a sliver of Russian territory sandwiched between two NATO member states. A Lithuanian flag flaps at the rear of his boat.
Vehicles have been banned from crossing the checkpoint on the Lithuanian side since 2022, and dragon’s teeth – concrete pyramidal anti-tank obstacles – have been installed.
The message is clear: tensions are high, and travel across the bridge is not encouraged.
But this was not always the case.
Titas Paulkstelis, a 28-year-old wind turbine technician and resident of Panemune, remembers when people lined up on either side.
“Life here was booming, with people going back and forth,” he said.
It used to be normal to take a day trip to buy products that were cheaper on each respective side, he added.
Paulkstelis said traffic across the bridge slowed after Russian-backed separatists invaded eastern Ukraine and Crimea in 2014.
Following Russia’s full-scale onslaught in 2022, the rural town was thrust into the forefront of geopolitical sabre-rattling.
Walking through his lush garden bursting with autumnal colours, Paulkstelis told Al Jazeera about unusual activity over the past year, including a weeks-long jamming of telephone signals, which he suspects may have been a Russian attempt to test Lithuania’s ability to respond.
He appeared amused by most of the activity, calling it “childish”.
An open-air cinema on the Russian side, clearly visible to the residents of Panemune, has been airing a near-constant stream of old Soviet war films since 2022, he said.
However, at times, he feels unsettled.
On several occasions, he has heard rapid gunfire, which he thinks emerges from military exercises in Kaliningrad. One explosion was so powerful that the ground beneath him shook.
In recent weeks, NATO-Russia tensions have exploded, with a number of NATO countries reporting unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) entering their airspace.
On October 2 and 3, Germany’s Munich Airport closed its runways for several hours after drones were sighted.
Estonia has said Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered its airspace for 12 minutes.
The implications feel scary for some in Panemune, Paulkstelis said, but there is a sense that there is little they can do given their precarious location.
The town is nestled by Kaliningrad, which is home to nuclear-capable Iskander missile systems and is also close to the Suwalki Gap, a narrow 65-kilometre (40-mile) land corridor between Poland and Lithuania that separates Kaliningrad from Belarus and is seen as NATO’s most vulnerable chokepoint.
“If they’re coming, they will come for here”, he said, referring to the Russian military.
Source: Aljazeera
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