Residents of Poland’s Suwałki Gap appeal for emergency shelters in case of war with Russia

An organisation representing residents in the Suwałki Gap – an area along the Polish-Lithuanian border lying between the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Belarus – has appealed for the authorities to create emergency shelters in case the Kremlin decides to launch military action.

The corridor has long been seen as a potential weak point in a war with Russia. Tensions there have recently increased after Lithuania blocked some goods from being transferred by rail to Kaliningrad, leading Moscow to warn of “serious consequences”.

Daniel Domoradzki, head of the Active Masuria Association, a local NGO, told the Wirtualna Polska news service that “many inhabitants have asked [us] if there are shelters in the event of war”.

“There are no such buildings,” he added, and called for “immediate action from the government in Warsaw to change this state of affairs”. His association has sent questions about such shelters to 14 administrative units in the area. None had any.

A local councillor in the town of Suwałki, Jacek Roszkowski, also enquired about shelters but was sent only a list of places that could be adapted into shelters. The mayor, Czesław Renkiewicz, said it would not be posted online “so as not to increase anxiety among residents”, reports Wirtualna Polska.

Marcin Radziłowicz, secretary of the municipal authorities in the town of Ełk, advises residents to use basements, garages and underground car parks as temporary shelters if necessary.

Three opposition MPs – Michał Wypij, Anna Wojciechowska and Iwona Maria Kozłowska – submitted a question about shelters in Masuria to the defence ministry, which replied that they are the responsibility of local authorities and the chief of national civil defence, a position currently held by the head of the fire service.

A former officer from Poland’s GROM special forces, Colonel Andrzej Kruczyński, however, told Wirtualna Polska that, “after the losses suffered in Ukraine, Russia is unable to attack any other country”. He says it will take “years, even decades” for Russia to recover.

Kruczyński admitted that it is important to think about reestablishing a system of shelters in Poland following the invasion of Ukraine, but added that this is a long-term task and not a cause for panic.

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.