- Frank Gardner
- BBC News, Narva
A volunteer worker told the BBC that the border in Narva was the most convenient in Europe for Ukrainians to cross from Russia.
Narva is a strange place, almost an aberration. It is located at the easternmost tip of NATO and is the third largest city in Estonia, but 97% of its approximately 60,000 residents speak Russian, making it the largest Russian-speaking city in the European Union.
It is located on the west bank of the Narva River, which flows into the Baltic Sea. On the east bank is Russia. For someone visiting it for the first time, it looks like that Classic Cold War frontier. Two huge opposing forts stand on either side of the river, with the international border passing through the middle.
To the west lies Narva Castle, built by the Danish invaders in the 13th century. To the east is Ivangorod Castle, built by a Muscovite prince in 1492.
Ivangorod Fountain in Russia, seen from the opposite bank of the Narva River, in Estonia.
Since a large part of Estonia’s border with Russia runs along a lake, it is likely that any future invasion of Moscow will occur here or in the south, near Latvia.
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The chariot bridge crosses the Narva River, with high metal fences and barbed wire on both sides and customs posts on each end. Here I coordinated a meeting with Eric Leyva. He is the Superintendent of the Border Police or is authorized to identify him in his Estonian position. Tall, bearded and armed, he accompanies me on the way to where he was painted Simple red line on the road.
“You just got to the border,” he told me. “The Russian Federation is touching the edge.”
I asked him how relations with his Russian counterparts across the border had developed since the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
Leva answers: “We do not have many contacts with them, but we have a hotline for operational reasons. We have increased our border patrols, we are carrying out more stringent checks of passing vehicles.”
Estonian policemen inspect a car coming from Russia.
Through this little-known border post, according to the Estonian border police, thousands of Ukrainians arrived – many of them fled the horrors of Mariupol and other war zones. until 300 people a day cross the border into EstoniaMost of the way to other countries or back to Ukraine.
In a city bar, I met Don Katerie Rick, the newly appointed mayor of Narva.
Ukraine our war“We feel it here,” he explains.
When the invasion began, he says, there was an intense silence in the city, which no one mentioned. Only 47% of the population here is Estonian, 36% is Russian and the rest are classified as “foreigners” – stateless, mostly Russian-speaking.
Before the invasion, people watched Russian programs on TV and often crossed into Ivangorod and beyond, even Saint Petersburg, which is closer to Narva than Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.
But now that the consulates in Narva and Saint Petersburg are closed, visas are difficult to obtain, and Estonia has banned Russian TV shows, viewing them primarily as Kremlin propaganda.
Mayor Kateri Raik met many Ukrainians passing through her city.
“They’ve been through hell,” he says. As if the light had gone out in his eyes.
In another area of the city, I visited six volunteer assistance centers set up to help incoming Ukrainians. Most of the staff It consists of Russian and Ukrainian youth work without payAnd the Like Katya from Russia.
“This border is the most convenient in Europe for Ukrainians crossing from Russia,” he told me. “Some were evacuated from war zones by Russian forces, some voluntarily and some forcibly. By the time they reached the border they were exhausted and traumatized.”
Katya volunteers at the center as Ukrainian refugees in Narva.
At the Russian border post in Ivangorod, Ukrainians are subject to intense interrogation, especially men. Security agents from Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (FSB) scan their phones for photos, social media posts and contacts.
Naked men are searchedLooking for national armor tattoos or regiment affiliations. They are even looking for bruises on their shoulders caused by gunfire. Interrogations can last for hours and anyone who raises suspicion can be detained for further investigation.
However, some of those who made it to Estonia continue to criticize the West. At the volunteer center, two elderly Ukrainian women from a village near Kharkiv agreed to speak to me in Russian, with Katya as an interpreter.
They tell me they are Thank you to the Russian soldiers who helped them evacuate Belgorod, on the Russian side of the border.
BBC
Younger people think differently. Even those who claim to be Russians are angry with Putin for causing such a mess.”
I ask them who to blame for this war.
“It’s like a divorce,” Victoria replied, petting a small dog on her lap. “Because both sides are guilty. The United States is guilty because they should not have supplied Ukraine with weapons.”
What if Ukraine were divided into regions ruled by Russia on one side and the legitimate government in Kyiv on the other? Where do you prefer to live?
Victoria’s friend answers: “Zelensky should not be president, he is a drug addict,” echoing the partisan line expressed by the Kremlin.
“We’re going to live in the Russian region, of course.”.
Outside the center, another volunteer, Dennis, pulled me aside to explain.
“It’s a generation issue,” he says. “Even here in Narva, many old people blame NATO and the West for this crisis. Younger people think differently. Even those who claim to be Russians are angry at Putin for causing this disaster.”
Invade
Estonia – like its Baltic neighbors in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland – is Very concerned about Russia’s future intentions After the invasion of Ukraine.
Monument to a Russian World War II tank on the Estonian side of the border in Narva.
“Europe and NATO are facing a completely different reality,” says Toli Dunton, political director of the Estonian Ministry of Defense. “attacks [de Rusia] It can no longer be ruled out.”
To deter any Russian ambition to invade these four Baltic states, NATO was quick to bolster its eastern flank – part of what it calls its “forward presence”.
Britain, which leads the multinational combat group in Estonia, quickly doubled the size of its contingent there. It now has 28 Challenger 2 main battle tanks, 95 Warrior armored vehicles and 12 AS90 artillery pieces.
It’s not enough to stop a center invasion of Moscow, but it’s enough to act as a deterrent as a “flight rope” that would unleash the full power of NATO if Russia decided to cross the border.
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