Poland to build six observation towers to monitor Russian border

Poland is to build six observation towers to monitor its border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.   

The towers will be up to 50m tall and will send CCTV images to guards monitoring the 200km border. 

Three quarters of the $3.8m project has been funded by the EU’s External Borders Fund.   

Russia last month announced plans to deploy short-range Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad in what the Russian government called a "major military exercise".

A map showing Kaliningrad (Google)

The towers are already under construction and are expected to be operational in July this year. 

Poland’s border with Russia is the external border of the European Union, and has four road crossings into Kaliningrad. 

In 2014 3.2 million Poles and 3.3 million Russians passed through the border. 

Image: An old Prussian fortress in Kaliningrad (Wikimedia Commons)