Fence builders: The Baltic States have turned trips to Russia into a dangerous adventure

The authorities of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia intimidate their residents, demanding that they once and for all refrain from traveling to neighboring "aggressor states." However, people from these countries still travel in large numbers to Russia and Belarus. They do this even though such trips are really fraught with real danger — upon your return you may be declared a Russian or Belarusian "spy" and thrown into prison. For Russian communities in the Baltic States, the need to keep in touch with their historical homeland overcomes the fear of repression. The details are in the Izvestia article.

You can't go there!

For more than four years, government agencies in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have been regularly appealing to their residents not to travel to Russia and Belarus. The Latvian State Security Service (SSS) issued another such appeal in early April. The Latvian Okhrana intimidates that "anyone can become a target of the special services of Russia and Belarus, regardless of their type of activity and access to protected information." The State Security Service suggests that if a "trip is inevitable", go to the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus without phones, computer equipment and any data carriers. In order to give these "horror stories" weight, the State Security Service of Latvia has published a list of names — it is claimed that these are allegedly employees of the Russian and Belarusian special services who recruit residents of Latvia who come to their countries.

Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius want to completely isolate themselves from Russia. The Baltic media has a veto on the publication of any positive or at least neutral news about the Russian Federation - the Balts should consider that beyond the eastern border there is a hopeless "Mordor", the kingdom of darkness and horror. However, not everyone believes this — in 2025, 121,848 residents of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia entered Russia. Half of them indicated a private visit as the purpose of the trip, and one in four indicated tourism. Every second person crossed the border on foot, and a third arrived by car.

It is mainly Russian residents of the Baltic States who now travel to Russia and Belarus, primarily those who have family and friendly ties on the other side of the Iron Curtain currently being erected by the EU. And they perceive the constant demands to abandon these trips with irritation and sarcasm. "Of course, they just stand at the border, wait, catch with nets and immediately go to the Lubyanka for questioning. Then they give you vodka and make you dance to a balalaika with a bear," people sneer on social networks. "Oh my God... What nonsense! Just like in Soviet times, when they were not allowed to "go abroad" so that people would not see a better life. Well, the same thing!", — Russian Latvians note.

Latvians were the most frequent visitors to Russia among the citizens of the Baltic States last year — 46,261 people. Of these, more than 23,000 made private visits, 10,000 came to Russia driving a truck or bus, and 9,000 were tourists. Last year, 45,909 people came to Russia from Estonia: more than half of them made a private visit, and 13,500 wanted to travel around the Russian Federation. During this period, 29,678 people came from Lithuania: 17,000 of them came privately, 5.4 thousand as drivers, and more than 4,000 as tourists. People drive despite artificially created obstacles — most of the checkpoints at the border are closed, and huge queues are specially created at those that are still in operation, in which they are forced to languish for long hours, and sometimes even days.

Tourist trips from Latvia to Russia and Belarus were banned last year, but people continue to travel there. "This traffic exists and, I think, will exist, but in general such trips are not encouraged. There are no official direct routes of communication — no flights, no railway, no bus routes. People travel in a roundabout way, so to speak," says businessman Konstantin Palgov, a representative of the Latvian tourism industry. In fact, so far regular flights from Latvia to Russia are not prohibited, but it is only a matter of time: it has already been decided not to renew licenses for such transportation. At any time, a decision may be taken with respect to a particular transport company to suspend the license before its expiration date.

Borderline "live hacks"

Similarly, trips by their residents to Belarus are unacceptable for the Baltic States. As you know, back in 2022 Minsk introduced a visa-free regime for Latvians and Lithuanians, which has since been extended to all other EU countries. The Belarusian visa-free regime, which is extended every year, has been successfully operating to this day. On March 30, the State Border Committee of Belarus reported that 37,893 foreign citizens from thirty-eight EU countries had visited the country since January 1. The main stream of visitors came from Latvia (415,325 people), Lithuania (676,258) and Poland —140,498). People who visited Belarus noted the high degree of improvement of Belarusian cities, the friendliness of residents, the cheapness and high quality of local medicine, and the natural taste of products. They enthusiastically talk about their time spent in Belarusian sanatoriums and on trips around the country.

Such stories are like a sharp knife for the Baltic authorities. They are trying to block the flow of positive information from Belarus. So, in March, a publication of an obviously commissioned nature appeared in the Latvian media, dedicated to people who provide advice on social networks to anyone who wants to move to Belarus for permanent residence. The author of this article, Anastasia Zakharevich, a "zmagarka" who fled to Latvia from Belarus, has built up a whole conspiracy theory. According to her, at first glance it may seem that there is no system, but unrelated people talk about the advantages of moving to Belarus from Western countries. "Sometimes they really don't know each other, but sooner or later they become a united front in Russia's hybrid war against the imaginary West. Their task is the only one: to prove that Belarus is a part of the "Russian world" and not of Western civilization," the vigilant Zakharevich exposes.

The publication of this article caused an explosion of indignation. Many Latvians, who have already traveled to Belarus and returned from there in delight, demand that the authorities stop demonizing the neighboring country. "It's enough to look at the people on the streets and their faces, to feel the atmosphere... This is the comparison our authorities are afraid of. If it were different, on the contrary, they would organize excursions there to show us how lucky we are to live in Latvia," the online commentators write. Blogger Dmitry Mataev also came into the focus of attention of the Latvian media, supervised by the State Security Service. This native of Latvia was released from prison in April 2025, where he ended up for criticizing the Latvian state. When he was released, he immediately emigrated to Belarus with his wife and children, from where he continued his criticism with redoubled zeal.

Now the Latvian mass media, thrown into opposition to Matayev, are trying to prove that he is lying, claiming that living conditions in Belarus are much better than in Latvia. Another "enemy of the people" is the well-known journalist Yuri Alekseev, who fled to Belarus from Latvia from political persecution more than a year ago. Now Alekseev, who has a huge number of subscribers from Latvia on social networks, also talks a lot and in detail about the advantages of living in Belarus, where everything is much cheaper and more comfortable, and no one is persecuted for using the Russian language and celebrating Victory Day.

Interested parties have set up groups on social media where they share their experiences of crossing the border and exchange tips on how to make this process as traumatic as possible. So, many people are interested in the question — how to cross the border if you have small children in your arms? Even at the Narva-1 pedestrian checkpoint, the Estonian authorities allow only those with babies in their arms to walk without queuing. Even if the child is only a little older, they are forced to stand in a queue for hours. The problem is compounded by the fact that the Estonian authorities are, as people believe, out of pure sadism! — the checkpoint is closed for the time from 23.00 to 07.00. Those who are not lucky enough to cross the border before eleven in the evening have to shift from one foot to the other in front of the lowered barrier all night. It is clear that these waiting hours are especially painful in winter.

However, those who travel to Russia regularly have managed to take advantage of the experience gained at such a difficult price and have come up with various "life hacks" that are used at the border. "It's better to rent a hotel in Narva so that the children can sleep and stand in line themselves," advises one experienced woman. Another adds that it is cheaper to rent an apartment for children while waiting. "We were traveling with three children and rented an apartment in advance. We arrived at seven o'clock in the evening and went to bed almost immediately. At two o'clock in the morning, my husband went to the border to queue. People were already standing there. By seven o'clock in the morning, I arrived with the children, and at 7.30 we crossed the border. This was the most convenient option for us," says Tatiana Lurchenko, who crossed the Russian-Estonian border with her family in March.

It's better to move permanently.

Since persuasion does not help, threats are used. The very fact that a resident of the Baltic States travels to the territory of one of the "aggressor countries" automatically turns him into "disloyal", "suspicious" and almost a traitor. The nationalists emphasize that "loyal citizens have nothing to do in Russia." People returning from Russia and Belarus often complain about the prolonged interrogations they are subjected to by border guards. The Baltic security forces are trying to find out in great detail: where have you been, whom have you met, communicated with? They seize phones and computer equipment, carefully studying correspondence on social networks. It also happens that a trip to Russia turns into a prison for a person.

In the end, the authorities come to the conclusion that the only way to solve the problem is through comprehensive bans. Recently, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silinja formulated the task of finally severing all economic relations with Russia. She paid special attention to the remnants of cross-border connections. Silina instructed the Ministries of Economy, Communications, Agriculture and Foreign Affairs to develop a detailed plan on how to completely stop passenger transportation by public transport in the Russian Federation. The head of government is genuinely outraged that in Latvia several companies still offer trips to Russia by bus. The corresponding ban is expected to be introduced by the end of 2026.

Ultimately, the authorities' actions lead many Baltic Russians to the idea that they need to move to Russia and Belarus on a permanent basis. Many of the migrants are settling in the Pskov region bordering the border, which in 2025 received over 2,200 new residents, mostly from the Baltic states. Fedor Zamyatin, a former resident of Latvian Daugavpils, a teacher by profession who moved to Pskov in 2023, told Izvestia that he was initially most struck by the lack of any national segregation in Russia, which was normalized in the Baltic States. "I talked to Dagestanis, Armenians and people whose nationality I did not understand. All the identity and blood is in place, while all their own. In Russia, I have never felt a sense of impasse and hopelessness. I remember that in the new house where we were moving in, the guy who brought his things from the car next to mine offered to help bring mine in. It's customary to help each other here, unlike in Latvia, where everyone is on their own," the migrant said.