It’s only about 40 miles long, and forms the border between NATO members Poland and Lithuania. It is sparsely populated, and as both countries are also part of Europe’s shared-visa Schengen Zone, has served as a vital connection between the northern Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and their southern allies.

But the small strip of land known as the Suwalki Gap — after the nearby Polish city of the same name — is a major headache for Vladimir Putin.

Russia’s strategic military enclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea coast is separated from the Russian “mainland” by Lithuania (a NATO member state) and Belarus (a Russian ally and host to substantial numbers of Russia’s military forces and armaments) . . . much as Alaska is separated from the U.S. “lower 48” by Canada.

The principal difference is that the U.S. and Canada are staunch allies, whereas Lithuania — in the wake of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and other Eastern European nations — has closed its borders with both Russia and Belarus, thereby cutting off Russia’s only land access (through Belarus) to Kaliningrad and its vital naval fleet. And Poland has likewise slammed shut its border with Belarus since last week’s Russian drone attack into Polish airspace.

That means that Russia’s only open route to its key territory is by sea . . . a longer and far more difficult journey if one’s purpose is to relocate substantial numbers of ground troops and military resources.

So while it may not be as well known as the Strait of Gibraltar, the Gaza Strip, or Korea’s 38th Parallel, the Suwalki Gap is a point of both connection and division that is of vital importance to Russia in pursuance of its obvious territorial ambitions in Eastern Europe.

Though the Kremlin continues to deny those ambitions — something they manage to do with a straight face — their drone attacks on Poland, and the presence of a Russian drone hovering over Romanian territory for 50 minutes on September 14th, clearly belie their disclaimers.

Kaliningrad is strategically indispensable to supporting Russia’s military might; and both Poland and Lithuania — along with their shared strip of land at Suwalki — stand squarely in its path. I believe Suwalki is a name that will become much more familiar is the not-too-distant future.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/15/25