Estonia warned about the risk of crossing the border with Russia due to Google Maps

The Estonian Border Guard recommends that you do not use Google Maps when traveling along the Narva River due to the risk of accidentally crossing the border with Russia. This was announced on May 24 by the head of the Narva border checkpoint, Regina Kukk.

"Some of the crossings of the temporary control line that occurred in our country this year were caused by people using the Google Maps app. The temporary reference line marked in this cartographic application is incorrect. People may experience navigation errors in certain locations, and they may inadvertently end up on Russian territory," the Estonian State Television and Radio ERR quoted her as saying.

According to Kukk, this season the situation is complicated by the lack of navigation buoys on the Narva River, as Estonia and Russia have not been able to coordinate their placement. In recent months, at least four cases of illegal border crossing have been recorded. In some situations, warnings were issued to violators, in others fines of up to €600 were imposed.

The Estonian border guards recommended that people traveling through Narva by water transport use GPS devices or the specialized mapping application Nutimeri, as well as stay closer to the Estonian coast. Regular navigation services are not working well in the area, Cook warned.

"Choose some other body of water, but, of course, we cannot ban people. For our part, we are trying to do everything possible to reduce such violations," she concluded.

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On April 26, ERR reported that a patrol boat of the Estonian Police and Border Guard Department ended up in Russian waters on the Narva River due to a technical malfunction. It was clarified that the strong wind did not allow the border guards to hold the boat even with the help of an anchor. The Estonian authorities notified the Russian FSB Border Guard Service about the incident. After about 15 minutes, the crew was able to return the boat back to Estonian waters on their own.