German army helps Poland construct a defensive barrier against Russia

Poland started to construct a defensive barrier along its border with Russia and Belarus in 2024. The East Shield defense system will eventually be around 800 kilometers long, and is intended to protect this country on NATO's eastern flank against attack from the east.

When the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk , inspected the first completed section in November 2024, he declared that the project was meant to "deter and discourage a potential aggressor" and was "truly an investment in peace."

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was a profound shock to Poland's sense of security. The Tusk government has increased defense spending in 2026 to 200 billion zlotys (around 46 billion euros, or 54 billion dollars) ― almost 5% of Poland's GDP. This means that, in relative terms, Poland has the highest defense spending of all the members of NATO . The government has also bought the most advanced weapons available, particularly from the US, and is proceeding with the construction of the East Shield, a complex defense system along its eastern border.

Since June, around 40 German sappers, or combat engineers, have been helping to establish the defenses. The German army's combat engineer unit is specially trained in blocking the movement of enemy troops. The sappers are currently deployed near Budry in Masuria, close to the border with Russia. The fence marking the border is visible from where they are working, partially obscured by a row of trees on the Polish side.

The German soldiers are installing anti-tank obstacles to impede battle tanks in the event of an attack. A yellow backhoe loader lifts the spiky concrete blocks, known as Czech hedgehogs, off a truck and places them on the muddy ground.

This installation, around 200 meters back from the border, consists of three rows of these concrete blocks. A deep ditch and another line of hedgehogs run along the border itself. A Polish officer explains that mines can quickly be laid in the zone between the two lines of Czech hedgehogs.

"The German sappers have done an excellent job," the Polish general Stanislaw Czosnek said when he inspected the works on Thursday. He added that he was "very impressed" by his German colleagues' performance.

In the six weeks since their deployment, the German engineers have laid more than a kilometer of blocks.