after the polish–soviet war, the polish eastern frontier was stretched from the border with latvia to the north, to the prut river and romanian border to the south. although the peace treaty had been signed, the eastern border of poland was insecure. armed bands of saboteurs were crossing the border on a daily basis and the weak police forces in the area could not cope with the problem. in 1924 the town of stołpce located 20 kilometres from the border was seized by soviet saboteurs and pillaged. polish minister of war affairs, władysław sikorski, decided that the regular police could not cope with the problem and suggested that the control of the border be handed over to the polish army.