Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by Grzegorz Szymanowski
00:25 Colonel Andris Rieksts | Latvian Armed Forces
01:21 Mara Pakalne | University of Latvia
02:01 Grzegorz Szymanowski | DW Reporter
02:45 Colonel Andris Rieksts | Latvian Armed Forces

Script:

00:03 

This is what Latvia’s border with Russia looks like these days: roadblocks, cameras, and high fences topped with barbed wire. 

Colonel Andris Rieksts has been overseeing the border's modernization. 

He shows us how Latvia is also turning the landscape into part of its defense strategy — beginning with this river on the border. 

00:25
+++ SOT Colonel Andris Rieksts, Latvian Armed Forces (male, Latvian) 
By diverting the flow of water, we can artificially flood these territories if needed, so we can create an additional barrier in a crisis. +++ 

00:39
And the Latvian army is also looking at the peatlands scattered along the border. 

00:44
+++ SOT Colonel Andris Rieksts, Latvian Armed Forces (male, Latvian) 
Along the Baltic Defense Line, we have many peat bogs. We strongly support the idea that every natural barrier that can be restored and created will only help in building this defense line. 

Source: Youtube@LatvijasValstsMeziLV
00:58-1:09
Peatlands cover around 10 percent of Latvia’s territory. 

But over half of that area has been drained to harvest peat for fuel and agriculture, as well as to clear land for farming. 

Scientists like Mara Pakalne are working to reverse that. She’s been studying how to restore bogs like this one, just two kilometers from the Russian border.  

01:20
+++ SOT Māra Pakalne, University of Latvia (English, female) 
You can close the drainage ditches, and the water will not be flowing out of the bog anymore. So, it’s even better for defense. +++ 

01:31
And she adds, bogs like these not only help slow Russian tanks — they also fight planet-warming pollution at the same time. 

01:38
+++ SOT Māra Pakalne, University of Latvia (English, female) 
When you drain peatland, they start to emit all the greenhouse gases. So, if you restore a peatland, you keep all the carbon in it. +++ 

01:50
It looks like solid land from a distance.  

But underfoot, the peatland is soaked through with water.   

02:00
+++ SOT Grzegorz Szymanowski, DW Reporter (male, English) 
Every step sinks, every move drags. It’s hard to keep balance here and this is exactly why countries like Latvia want more of this kind of terrain on their border with Russia. +++ 

Source: DVIDS
02:15-2:32
Its lethalness became evident in this peat bog in Lithuania, where a U.S. Army armored vehicle sank during NATO exercises in March, killing four soldiers. It took nearly a week to recover the vehicle. 

But what was a tragic accident for NATO troops, is now being turned into a defense strategy. 

And by shaping the landscape, Latvia can focus its resources on blocking other routes from Russia. 

02:43
+++ SOT Col. Andris Rieksts, Latvian Armed Forces (male, Latvian) 
We see Russia’s actions, what they say and do to their other neighbor, that is Ukraine. So we can’t say we are building our defense line only temporarily. +++ 

02:58
Here in the Latvian borderlands, the political divide between the West and Russia is increasingly visible on the ground. 

These manmade barriers are now being augmented by less visible, natural ones. 

3:12 END