Varied areas, Lithuania – Alongside the banks of the Nemunas River, flags look like a elementary characteristic.
On one aspect, within the sleepy Lithuanian city of Panemune, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, and European Union flags flutter within the wind.
On the opposite, a Russian flag towers over the Russian metropolis of Sovetsk. On a close-by constructing is an illuminated ornamental Z, an emblem used to indicate assist for the Russian navy’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which started in February 2022.
A solitary fisherman fastidiously sails underneath the Queen Louise Bridge, which connects Lithuania with the Kaliningrad area, a sliver of Russian territory sandwiched between two NATO member states. A Lithuanian flag flaps on the rear of his boat.
Automobiles have been banned from crossing the checkpoint on the Lithuanian aspect since 2022, and dragon’s enamel – concrete pyramidal anti-tank obstacles – have been put in.
The message is obvious: tensions are excessive, and journey throughout the bridge shouldn’t be inspired.
However this was not all the time the case.
Titas Paulkstelis, a 28-year-old wind turbine technician and resident of Panemune, remembers when folks lined up on both aspect.
“Life right here was booming, with folks going forwards and backwards,” he stated.
It was regular to take a day journey to purchase merchandise that have been cheaper on every respective aspect, he added.
Paulkstelis stated visitors throughout the bridge slowed after Russian-backed separatists invaded jap Ukraine and Crimea in 2014.
Following Russia’s full-scale onslaught in 2022, the agricultural city was thrust into the forefront of geopolitical sabre-rattling.
Strolling via his lush backyard bursting with autumnal colors, Paulkstelis informed Al Jazeera about uncommon exercise over the previous yr, together with a weeks-long jamming of phone alerts, which he suspects might have been a Russian try to check Lithuania’s potential to reply.
He appeared amused by many of the exercise, calling it “infantile”.
An open-air cinema on the Russian aspect, clearly seen to the residents of Panemune, has been airing a near-constant stream of previous Soviet struggle movies since 2022, he stated.
Nonetheless, at occasions, he feels unsettled.
On a number of events, he has heard fast gunfire, which he thinks emerges from navy workout routines in Kaliningrad. One explosion was so highly effective that the bottom beneath him shook.
In latest weeks, NATO-Russia tensions have exploded, with various NATO nations reporting unmanned aerial automobiles (UAVs) getting into their airspace.
On October 2 and three, Germany’s Munich Airport closed its runways for a number of hours after drones have been sighted.
Estonia has stated Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered its airspace for 12 minutes.
The implications really feel scary for some in Panemune, Paulkstelis stated, however there’s a sense that there’s little they will do given their precarious location.
The city is nestled by Kaliningrad, which is house to nuclear-capable Iskander missile techniques and can be near the Suwalki Hole, a slim 65-kilometre (40-mile) land hall between Poland and Lithuania that separates Kaliningrad from Belarus and is seen as NATO’s most weak chokepoint.
“In the event that they’re coming, they may come for right here”, he stated, referring to the Russian navy.
He bit from an apple he had picked from a tree, took a protracted breath, and added in a relaxed tone, “However what can we do?”
