These two oblasts are underdeveloped, thinly populated and easy to overlook, but that is what makes them useful to the Russian military. Pskov is home to the 76th Guards Air Assault Division and a GRU special forces brigade, both used against Ukraine and now being rebuilt. Bombers and S-400s are based further east. Drone strikes on airfields at Pskov and Soltsy in 2023 showed that these rear areas are no longer out of reach.
Along the borders with Estonia and Latvia, contact is shrinking. Crossings are closed at night. Rail links have been suspended. Estonia permanently closed the road through the Saatse Boot after armed Russian personnel appeared on it.
Yet the tension is rising. GPS interference has grounded flights to Tartu. A Russian drone crashed in eastern Latvia. Behind the military build-up are weak local economies, a shrinking population and failing waste management. The region shows how Russia’s borderlands are being run more and more for security, at the expense of the people who live there.
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Compiled by Cognifare from open sources, named in each site’s note. Base map: Natural Earth; regional and municipal boundaries, main rivers and some site positions © OpenStreetMap contributors. Positions marked as approximate are indicative only.
We have created a series of maps of Belarus and Russia’s northwestern regions. We call them Pressure Points as they represent a showcase of military installations, energy facilities, economic powerhouses and environmental vulnerabilities along northeastern frontiers of EU & NATO countries. All used data come from open sources.