Russian border guards briefly crossed into Estonia on the Narva River after stepping onto a breakwater on the Estonian side, prompting Tallinn to treat the incident as a border violation and lodge a formal diplomatic protest.
According to Estonian authorities, the episode occurred on 17 December 2025 near Vasknarva in Ida-Viru County. Three Russian officers allegedly moved from a hovercraft onto the breakwater and remained there for roughly 20 minutes before returning to the Russian side.
Estonia responded by increasing patrols in the area and initiating contacts through border-service channels to clarify what happened. The issue then escalated diplomatically: Estonia summoned a Russian representative and delivered a protest note to Russia’s diplomatic mission in Tallinn.
Estonian officials said the motives behind the move were unclear and did not present it as an immediate military threat. At the same time, they stressed that any unauthorized crossing—especially in sensitive river-border areas—cannot be ignored, warning that repeated incidents could lead to tougher measures.
Russia, for its part, was reported to deny that a violation occurred during follow-up discussions, leaving Estonia to emphasize that, from its perspective, the crossing constituted an unacceptable breach of its territory and border regime.
