At Latvia's border with Russia, the line grows long, and tempers short

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/04/ [login to see] /russia-latvia-border
The road carrying a mile-long stream of semi-trucks waiting to enter Russia from Latvia is lined with port-a-potties and dumpsters full of junk-food wrappers and empty caffeinated soda bottles. The wait to get through this border crossing takes around two days.

"You should have seen this line two months ago," recalls Belarusian trucker Dmitri, who sits in the cab of his truck passing the time watching Russian television. "There were more than a thousand trucks and it took at least seven days to cross into Russia."

Dmitri, who doesn't give his last name for fear of being targeted for his opinions, has been idling here for two days, inching toward the front of the line. The mustachioed man in his 50s says he's transporting a trailer full of beer from Germany to Moscow, and he says because his country has aligned with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Moscow's invasion of Ukraine has impacted his work and reputation.

"I've lost work from this and people treat me worse than before," he says. "I was in Lithuania a few days ago trying to eat at a Ukrainian restaurant there, and they wouldn't let me. They kicked me out and told me to get my food from Putin instead."