Night on the ‘band’

But the Military Police Task Force has another responsibilities. These are armed motorized patrols set up to respond to the aggression of migrants, effort to push the border or provoke. They operate on the most endangered sections of the border with Belarus: in the area of Białowieża, Czeremchy, Orthodox Dubich, Napkins or Mielnik.

Production: Anita Blinkiewicz, Marcin Kopeć

The equipment includes drones, thermal cameras, reflection vehicles, and equipment from the Border Guard, including radar systems. They are in constant contact with the episode commander and officers who watch traffic on the cameras across the border, giving a signal for action. erstwhile they see suspicious movement or crowding in the night vision, they inform mobile teams that are immediately on their way. In conditions of expanding threat, patrols can besides be reinforced by additional soldiers.

Where is the tourist?

At night on the “belt” it is completely black. On a moonless night, you can't even see the face of a friend standing next to you. chaotic animals, specified as foxes, approach the barrier across the lane. On the another side of the border is frequently a well organized opponent inspired by Belarusian services. As pointed out by the Minsk Mazowieckie OSH officer (the name is not given due to the specificity of his service) groups of illegal migrants, although utilizing primitive methods, effort to operate out of character and organize scattered attempts to cross the border.

– They attack in respective places to distract us – 1 of the MPs points out. In order to make it hard for Poles, migrants push logs and boards filled with nails onto the “strip”, thus creating barricades for vehicles of our services. It takes 30 seconds to cut a metallic barrier with a diax. Soldiers call it “the window of life”. They do it in respective places to attack the largest group at the next point. If this succeeds, for example, they impose sleeping bags on barbed wire and, after overcoming the obstacles, they throw themselves to escape into Poland.

Soldiers of the peculiar Military Gendarmerie Branch during service on the Polish-Belarusian border.

On mobile phones illegal migrants set up have navigational points where couriers are waiting for them. On the way to them, their soldiers are stopped, besides from Minsk County. And as they point out, in periods of intense migratory pressure, even a fewer twelve people are detained on 1 shift. any times.

"Turists" – as soldiers call them – are mostly calm during detention and surrender without protests by Polish services. But before that happens, especially erstwhile they're on the another side of the dam, they usage different tools they throw at our soldiers. Very dangerous are slingshots with metallic car bearings fired from them, stones or nails loaded boards. But it happens that migrants throw what they have at hand. The MPs remember, among others, dense powerbanks that flew towards them.

All hands allowed

In addition to many modern technologies and reflection systems, the police and soldiers who service the “belt” besides have gas and smooth-bore weapons, as well as dense ammunition. “Our strength is mobility and the ability to operate in very dynamic conditions,” emphasizes an OSH officer from Minsk Mazowiecki.

At the same time, he adds that in meetings with “tourists” of our soldiers there are procedures and there are no rules on that side. The service on the “belt” involves pressure, tension, constant stress. Only people are on our side. They are well trained and prepared, but apart from the demanding service that besides incriminates them mentally, they besides have families, plans, dreams or obligations. And they want to be able to get home safely – emphasize the MPs stationed on the “belt”.

The Task Force Module has been operating on the border continuously since the start of the migration crisis, and its soldiers rotate in the two-week system. “We support the Border defender and another military forces, while taking care of their safety, we respond to the expanding number of events with increased risk, aggression towards soldiers or violent attempts to push the border,” explains the WZW officer.

Soldiers of the peculiar Military Gendarmerie Branch during night service on the Polish-Belarusian border.

Now, as he admits, there is simply a comparative calmness on the “strip”. This can be due to, for example, low temperatures. However, as the gendarmes indicate, specified time cannot put their defender down. “Always in the back of our heads, that the current situation may be a silence before the storm,” stressed the soldiers.

Deputy Prime Minister Paweł Durka, the press spokesperson of the Chief of the Chief Military Gendarmerie, estimates that soldiers of the peculiar Military Gendarmerie Branch in Minsk Mazowiecki are exemplary in carrying out their duties. “On a regular basis they carry out hard and liable tasks of supporting all our field units, and for a year and a half they have continuously protected the border with Belarus. Their effectiveness and professionalism is evidenced by the fresh discovery and detention of a group of migrants who have illegally entered our country utilizing a sub-basement," he said. He besides added that thanks to their attitude and skills we can all feel safer.