{"id":624018,"date":"2025-12-10T10:36:50","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T10:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/624018\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T10:36:50","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T10:36:50","slug":"in-estonia-europes-last-road-through-russia-has-closed-for-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/624018\/","title":{"rendered":"In Estonia, Europe\u2019s last road through Russia has closed for good"},"content":{"rendered":"

LUTEP\u00c4\u00c4, Estonia \u2014 Across the snowy and muddy forests of eastern Estonia, NATO and Russia are locked in a staring match. It\u2019s here, the frontier between a country with a population smaller than Vienna\u2019s and the largest nuclear power in the world, that many analysts fear Russian President Vladimir Putin may one day be inclined to conduct a limited invasion into NATO.<\/p>\n

The mood at the border here is tense and silent. Stretching inland from the tall barbed-wire fence is a \u201cborder regime area\u201d patrolled by special police units and dotted with guard towers. There are just a few villages in this zone \u2013 many of them Russian-speaking \u2013 connected by deserted but immaculately maintained roads.<\/p>\n

Until this fall, this border was home to an oddity that served as a reminder that, despite the politics, the people here have long been connected. Estonian Road 178, built in Soviet times, cuts through Russian territory in two separate spots, connecting several towns to the regional center of V\u00e4rska. A low-key agreement between the local border guards on either side of the fence meant that residents could use the road without checks, provided they stayed in their vehicles and would not stop in the approximately one kilometer of Russian territory that they traversed.<\/p>\n

This arrangement, never codified in official government policy on either side, came to an abrupt end on Oct. 10.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw a bigger group of soldiers. Some of them \u2013 most of them \u2013 had equipment like regular soldiers, not border guard uniforms and equipment,\u201d said Renet Merdikes, the Border Police captain in charge of this stretch of the border known as the Saatse Kordon.<\/p>\n

Merdikes has worked all along the frontier for the past thirteen years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t before seen this kind of unit around,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\"\"This photo shows a group of Russian soldiers, according to Estonian authorities, on the road through the Saatse Boot on the border between Estonia and Russia on Oct. 10, 2025. (Estonian Police and Border Guard Board)<\/p>\n

Merdikes counted eleven Russian men in uniforms, who had come from different directions and loitered for a while in the Saatse Boot, the piece of Russian territory that juts into Estonia and through which the road cuts. They were even on the strip of tarmac itself, he said, all the while Estonian vehicles were still using it to get from Sesniki to Lutep\u00e4\u00e4, two tiny villages on the southern and northern end, respectively, of the Russian pocket.<\/p>\n

Estonian authorities quickly closed the road. It hasn\u2019t reopened since.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t want to wait for the first serious incident,\u201d said Merdikes. \u201cWe can\u2019t do anything on the Russian territory, we can\u2019t protect our citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strained ties<\/p>\n

The soldiers ultimately left not long after they arrived, having walked around the area for a while and seemingly doing nothing else. Merdikes says that the Estonians picked up a hotline to their Russian counterparts, set up to defuse potential \u201cemergency incidents,\u201d asking for an explanation. They were told that there was nothing out of the ordinary and it was \u201cusual activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Initially, the road was blocked with a street sign, then concrete barriers and a temporary fence were set up. This week, a permanent fence has been constructed, sealing off the two road segments for good. Work has also started on replacement routes, with the longer of the two stretches set to be done by late next year, an expedited schedule pushed by the Estonian government for a project that was already underway to rectify the peculiar cross-border arrangement.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Estonian road that led through Russian territory until October 2025, with temporary barriers blocking passage, as seen on Nov. 22. A few weeks later, a permanent fence was installed in their place. (Linus H\u00f6ller\/staff)<\/p>\n

Until about 35 years ago, this line separating Russia from Estonia, which follows a river, the middle of a lake and then cuts through a series of forests, marshlands and Road 178, mattered relatively little. Since being invaded by the Soviet Union in 1940, and for five decades thereafter, the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic was just one of 15 constituent republics of the world\u2019s preeminent communist state. The frontier between Estonia and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic \u2013 which everyone understood was the dominant power in the \u201cunion\u201d \u2013 was just an internal border of the same country.<\/p>\n

Personal ties across the border remained close even after the dissolution of the Union, and pragmatic arrangements like the one in the Saatse Boot were par for the course. Until Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, even the Estonian border guards themselves would make use of the road leading through Russia. <\/p>\n

Now, they have to take a detour to go around, out of an abundance of caution, the border guard captain said.<\/p>\n

\"\"A map of Estonia. (Nzeemin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Annotated by Linus H\u00f6ller)\"\"A closeup map of the “Saatse Boot” section of Estonia’s border with Russia, with a now-closed shortcut road marked in red. (OpenStreetMap contributors, modified by Linus H\u00f6ller)<\/p>\n

Even before the Soviet Union, under the Tsarist Russian Empire, Estonia had been under some form of Russian control for centuries. Legacies of the countries\u2019 complicated but nonetheless shared past are plentiful \u2013 a large Russian Orthodox church, part of the Kremlin-aligned Moscow patriarchate, stands opposite the Estonian parliament in the capital Tallinn; census data<\/a> shows that two in every three Estonians live in Soviet-era apartment blocks; and ethnic Russians make up more than a fifth of the population.<\/p>\n

Still, Estonia\u2019s national identity is distinct and specifically European. Its heritage is linked to the Hanseatic League and the traders of the Baltic Sea, and its language carries strong traces of both Finnish and German. Museums in Tallinn, are quick to point out these historic connections and relativize ties to Russia, the Soviet period being described as a phase of Russian occupation. Practically no Soviet symbols or iconography remain even in remote backwaters, with round hammer-and-sickle plaques removed from buildings, leaving conspicuous circles, and statues of Lenin scrapped.<\/p>\n

The divided city<\/p>\n

But ties across the border don\u2019t disappear overnight. In Narva, a city in northeastern Estonia that is also its largest border town, there is a constant flow of people walking across the border to and from the twin city of Ivangorod, on the eastern \u2013 Russian \u2013 bank of the river, even now in late 2025. The crossing has been closed to vehicle traffic since 2022, ostensibly for construction works, although none were visible in mid-November three years later. Instead, the bridge has been fortified with tank barriers, electronic gates capable of closing within seconds, and a generous helping of barbed wire on all sides.<\/p>\n

\"\"The bridge leading from Narva to Russia’s Ivangorod (in the distance), now barricaded with anti-vehicle barriers, is still open to pedestrian traffic under strict conditions in late 2025. (Linus H\u00f6ller\/staff)<\/p>\n

A little farther south, a seldom-used railroad bridge forms another physical connection between the two countries, spanning a gorge forged by the Narva River.<\/p>\n

Since Jan. 1, 2023,, a year into Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, Estonia has suspended all cross-border rail traffic from and to the east.<\/p>\n

A bored-looking Russian border guard, Kalashnikov rifle slung over his shoulder and dressed in a thick camouflage coat, observed this Defense News reporter through his binoculars as he snapped pictures of Russian fishermen braving the cold and reeling in a meager haul on his side of the river. The soldier was the only sign of activity on the once-busy railroad bridge.<\/p>\n

\"\"A Russian border guard looks through his binoculars at the railroad bridge across the border between Narva, Estonia, and Ivangorod, Russia in November 2025. (Linus H\u00f6ller\/staff)<\/p>\n

Just south of the city, next to the abandoned Soviet textile mill that used to employ 13,000 people, a dam spans the river. No crossing of the border is intended here, as is made clear by the razor wire and two opposing guard towers, myriad cameras and warning signs with a big red exclamation mark on a bright yellow background.<\/p>\n

There were several other people on this dam on a blustery late November day, just short of the fence, pacing up and down and speaking into their phones in Russian. The manmade peninsula, it seems, juts far enough into Russia\u2019s cell network to make domestic phone calls with a Russian number. Geopolitics has hardened this previously porous border, but the connections across it are similarly entrenched.<\/p>\n

\"\"The dam in the south of Narva is heavily guarded, but also serves as a point from which Estonians can connect with Russia’s mobile networks. The Orthodox church in the distance stands on Russian soil. (Linus H\u00f6ller\/staff)<\/p>\n

But they are becoming harder to maintain. Many crossing points have been indefinitely closed and others are open only to pedestrians or specific types of travelers, and sanctions have ground cross-border economic activity to an effective halt.<\/p>\n

The frontier itself is being fortified, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cBorder building is ongoing right now,\u201d said Merdikes. A modern fence is already installed along most of the land border. In the Saatse area, the current project is to create a gapless string of cameras to observe every meter of the fence. \u201cOur goal is that we have eyes throughout the border so we know where to react,\u201d said Merdikes. \u201cWe are the first eyes on the border in case something happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fortress Baltics<\/p>\n

Beyond the immediate fence, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have teamed up to construct what they dub the Baltic Defense Line. The project was announced in January 2024, and construction is now ongoing in all three Baltic Republics.<\/p>\n

Primarily meant to deter and, if necessary, slow a Russian invasion, it will consist of a series of anti-tank obstacles, dragon\u2019s teeth, barbed wire coils, bunkers and areas designated for laying landmines should the situation necessitate. Estonia alone plans to build 600 bunkers along its frontier with Russia, and the other Baltic states are expected to follow suit. The plans are being coordinated multilaterally between the countries and within the framework of NATO, according to the Estonian government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe war in Ukraine has shown that taking back already conquered territories is extremely difficult and comes at great cost of human lives, time and material resources,\u201d said the Estonian National Defence Investment Center ECDI in a report<\/a> outlining the large peacetime construction project. \u201cIn addition to equipment, ammunition and manpower, we need physical installations to defend our countries efficiently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Estonia expects to spend around \u20ac60 million ($70 million) on the project. It is meant to be completed by the end of 2027, according to<\/a> the head of infrastructure at the Center for Defense Investments, Kadi-Kai Kollo. This represents a delay of about a year due to unexpected complications in developing the modular bunkers that are to serve as the main backstop of the fortifications.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have seen different estimates on how quickly Russia can rebuild its military, we need to use this time wisely \u2013 the time to make all the necessary preparations is now,\u201d the ECDI report said.<\/p>\n

The last remaining Soviets <\/p>\n

On the Soviet-built House of Culture in Sillam\u00e4e, a grand Stalinist building, hangs a conspicuous sign featuring a blue triangle on an orange base. Scattered around Estonian towns, this sign marks that the building has a publicly accessible bomb shelter. The symbols started appearing in June 2022 as a direct consequence of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine and the fears it caused in Estonia. Within six months, shelter spots for more than 60,000 residents were marked accordingly. In the case of war, they would seek refuge in World War-era citadels, parking lots, and under schools and hospitals.<\/p>\n

\"\"The main avenue of the formerly secret city of Sillam\u00e4e, Estonia, has seen better days. (Linus H\u00f6ller\/staff)<\/p>\n

Sillam\u00e4e is emblematic of the difficult relationship with the big neighbor to the east. The town on the northern coast of Estonia was constructed from scratch under strict secrecy by the Soviet Union. It housed one of the country\u2019s main uranium enrichment plants, creating the fuel for 70,000 Soviet atomic bombs as well as the civilian nuclear power plants that dotted the empire\u2019s territory.<\/p>\n

In Soviet times, it was a closed city \u2013 not marked on any official maps and requiring a special permit to enter.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack then, the stores were always well stocked, and you could get whatever you wanted,\u201d recalls Larisa, a resident who moved here in 1985, just before Soviet premier Gorbachev\u2019s policy of radical reform changed everything. Today, the town is largely forgotten, and the grand, palatial architecture of the workers\u2019 apartment complexes with a splendid view of the ocean is coming apart.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to say whether life was better in the Soviet Union or now in the European Union, Larisa said. \u201cPeople adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like most people in this part of the country \u2013 Sillam\u00e4e is just half an hour\u2019s drive from the border \u2013 Larisa speaks Russian at home, even though she is originally from Ukraine. At the time she moved here due to her husband\u2019s work as a driver, it was all one country.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy motherland no longer exists,\u201d she said while going for a Sunday stroll along the Baltic promenade, her favorite place in town. Her passports are Estonian and Ukrainian. To her, the border, located just 25 kilometers to the east, is a distant thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t crossed it in many years; I have no reason to,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t even know whether it is still open.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fears of invasion<\/p>\n

It\u2019s here and especially in nearby Narva, right on the border, that some analysts worry Putin might try to test the West\u2019s resolve with a limited incursion, perhaps modeled on how he annexed Crimea in 2014. The area is ethnically primarily Russian, its population is Russian-speaking.<\/p>\n

Bruno Kahl, the head of Germany\u2019s Federal Intelligence Service (BND), has said that Putin may initiate such a scenario to test NATO\u2019s resolve on its collective defense provision in the form of Article 5, sparking a \u201cgrey-zone conflict\u201d that doesn\u2019t quite meet the bar for other alliance members to feel comfortable engaging in war with Russia. <\/p>\n

Others, especially Estonians, have pushed back on the idea, saying such a scenario is improbable given the risks associated and the precautions that the country has taken. <\/p>\n

Estonia will defend itself and is counting on its allies to come to its aid, is the government\u2019s message.<\/p>\n

\u201cWould a U.S. president risk dying for Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius?\u201d spy chief Kahl asked<\/a> in an interview with Germany-based Table Media June. \u201cWe are quite certain \u2013 and we have intelligence to back this up \u2013 that Ukraine is only the first step. The NATO commitment to collective defense is going to be challenged.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Narva, Estonia, in November 2025. (Linus H\u00f6ller\/staff)<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s here or elsewhere along NATO\u2019s extensive frontier with Russia \u2013 or if it never happens at all \u2013 the border in Estonia will remain tense for the foreseeable future. New fences will appear, bunkers will be buried, and cross-border connections will be strained.<\/p>\n

But fundamentally, none of this is new. Russia\u2019s presence just to the east has been a constant for many years. \u201cSome things don\u2019t happen overnight,\u201d said Merdikes, the border police chief from Saatse.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, we patrol the border. At the border, it\u2019s quite calm \u2013 but still, we have to be ready and look for any changes to the threat level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Linus H\u00f6ller is Defense News’ Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds a master\u2019s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LUTEP\u00c4\u00c4, Estonia \u2014 Across the snowy and muddy forests of eastern Estonia, NATO and Russia are locked in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7655],"tags":[6180,49570,5606,5607,5602,1112,299,332],"class_list":{"0":"post-624018","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-russia","8":"tag-border","9":"tag-border-security","10":"tag-circulated-defense-news","11":"tag-defense-news","12":"tag-dn-dnr","13":"tag-estonia","14":"tag-europe","15":"tag-russia"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115694841682991424","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}