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Estonia Begins Building Baltic Defense Line With Bunkers and Anti-Tank Ditches Near Russian Border

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Amira Barkhush
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Estonia Begins Building Baltic Defense Line With Bunkers and Anti-Tank Ditches Near Russian Border
A policeman stands next to “dragon’s teeth” fortifications, pyramidal anti-tank obstacles, at the Estonian-Russian border in the Narva crossing on December 15, 2024. (Source: Getty Images)

Estonian authorities have begun constructing the first section of the Baltic Defense Line—a fortified barrier along the border with Russia, Estonian public broadcaster ERR reported on June 19.

By autumn 2025, the country’s Defense Forces, working with the National Centre for Defense Investments, plan to build up to 28 bunkers and ten storage facilities, as well as install up to four kilometers of anti-tank ditches, according to Armin Siilivask, a representative of the Estonian Nuclear Energy Institute overseeing the fortification project.

Currently, trenches are being dug along the border strip in line with the Defense Forces’ requirements. Each trench is approximately four meters wide and two meters deep.

“An anti-tank ditch halts the enemy and slows their movement. When they try to clear a path through the trench, they become an easy target for our weapons,” said Lieutenant Colonel Ainar Afanasjev, commander of the Defense Forces’ division engineering unit.

The barrier ditches are part of the broader development of the Baltic Defense Line, a project in which Estonia’s Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources is investing €4.4 million this year.

On June 10, the head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, Bruno Kahl, warned that Russia intends to test NATO’s resolve by expanding its confrontation with the West beyond Ukraine.

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