Three Russian border guards crossed Russia’s border into eastern Estonia on Wednesday morning without permission.
The reason for the probing was not known, but Estonia has reported the event as non-threatening to its security.
They were identified on a hovercraft on the Narva River near the Vasknarva breakwater in Ida-Viru County.
The hovercraft stopped at the stone breakwater, situated in both Russian and Estonian territory at the entrance to Lake Peipus. But the Narva River normally requires Russian vessels to request to reach Lake Peipus, as per a longstanding agreement and unratified border treaty. This section of the border dates back to the Soviet era, when it was marked as an administrative boundary between the Estonian SSR and the Russian SFSR.
Three border guards disembarked and walked along the structure, thus crossing into Estonia. Then they returned to their hovercraft and went back to the Russian side of the river.
Estonia is expecting an explanation from the Russian Federation.
Reportedly, vessel would only be refused access if it were found that if the intended purpose did not match the stated aim — not that the situation has ever occured, although In May 2024, the Russian border guard removed over dozen floating demarcation buoys from the Narva River.
As this was going on, Vladimir Putin invoked “Europe’s little pigs” in a speech during a military ceremony.
