Two logisticians detained by Russian border guards return to Estonia

A meeting between representatives of the Russian border guards and the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) at the Saatse border point on Thursday concluded with the safe return of two PPA logisticians who were detained by Russian border guards after accidentally crossing the border.

The meeting between border representatives began at around 11:30 a.m. at the Saatse border point and lasted just over an hour.

«We are pleased to announce that the meeting between the Estonian and Russian border representatives has just concluded at the Saatse border point, and the two employees from our logistics office have safely returned to Estonian soil,» Vallo Koppel, head of the South Prefecture of the Police and Border Guard Board, said.

On Tuesday at around 3 p.m., near the Saatse border crossing, Russian border guards detained two logisticians of the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board who had mistakenly crossed the border while preparing for border maintenance work.

Two of the three logisticians, men aged 61 and 57, mistakenly crossed the border into Russian territory on an ATV. Russian border guards detained the men near the border crossing shortly before 3 p.m.

The logisticians had mistakenly chosen a patrol road on the Russian side instead of an asphalt road on the Estonian side to move around in the area of the border crossing point. They were on the Russian side by a few meters at the time of detention.