The drills dubbed Gallant Boar 2026 are being held from June 16-26, and are intended to “synchronize actions between allied forces,” according to the Lithuanian military. “During the training, great attention will be paid to increasing the military readiness of the countries. The skills necessary to ensure the rapid and effective protection of this geographically important section will also be improved,” Lithuania’s military added in a statement. It did not specify how many troops from each country would be involved in the drills but warned residents last week to expect “intensive movement of military equipment” on public roads as part of the buildup to the exercises. Strategic gap The Suwałki Gap is a strategic 65 kilometer (40 mile) land corridor on the Polish-Lithuanian border which connects Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to Poland. The narrow stretch of land is flanked by the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad to the west and Kremlin-ally Belarus to the east, which could leave the three Baltic NATO-member states at risk of being cut off from the rest of the Western military alliance in the event of an armed conflict with Russia. Following Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and an increase in hybrid warfare threats from Moscow and Minsk, NATO member states placed additional emphasis on security on the alliance’s eastern borders, including by ramping up their military presence in the Baltic states.
