Calm prevails Sunday morning on the border with Russia in southeastern Finland. This was stated by the Deputy Commander of the Border Guard in Southeast Finland Heikki Ahtiyanin For HBL. No one has yet crossed the closed border.
On Saturday, two people seeking asylum crossed the border from Russia into Finland. One person climbed the fence in Valema at 3pm and another person came through the woods south of the Valema border station at 7pm on Saturday.
He stated that after the first person climbed the fence, it was reinforced Kimo Gromov, Director General of the Border Guard Department of South-Eastern Finland.
The height of the fence at the site ranges between two and three metres, according to Gromov’s estimates.
Finland has recently invested heavily in border fencing, and this may be the first case of someone climbing over the fence in Finland. In previous cases where people crossed the border without permission from Russia, this happened through forest areas. Gromov says this usually happens in the summer, so it’s rare for this to happen now in the winter.
Earlier on Saturday, a few dozen people camped and lit a bonfire on the other side of the border crossing in Valema. Today, Sunday, all these people were transferred from the border area to Russia and the fire was extinguished, Heikki Ahtianen tells HBL.
The situation is described as calm.
In the North Karelia Border Guard Department, no border crossings took place, STT wrote.
On Friday, Finland closed the eastern border again to passenger traffic, after opening two border crossings for about two days. The new border closure will continue until January 14, 2024.
The article was updated with confirmed information from Kimo Gromov and on Sunday with information that a total of two people crossed the closed border on Saturday, and that people who were in the border area on the Russian side have left.
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