Russian man crosses closed Finnish border to seek asylum: “I had to cut through the fence with pliers”

A Russian man illegally crossed the closed eastern border into Finland last July and applied for asylum, claiming he fled to avoid conscription in Ukraine, according to Finnish Border Guard records obtained by national broadcaster Yle.

The incident is one of about ten unauthorized crossings from Russia into Finland in 2024, despite the border being officially closed since December 2023. Finnish authorities have recorded several dozen such cases since the closure.

On July 29, 2024, construction workers building a barrier fence near the Vaalimaa border crossing spotted an unidentified man at 12:55 PM who appeared to have entered from Russia. Border Guard officers with a patrol dog apprehended him roughly 400 meters inside Finnish territory less than an hour later.

The man, whose nationality was redacted from official documents, was carrying a pepper spray canister—leading to an additional charge of a minor firearms offense. He told authorities he had acted alone and intended to be caught by Finnish officials to claim asylum.

Refusal to fight in Ukraine

During questioning, the man stated his troubles began in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, when he refused military service. He claimed Russian authorities subsequently targeted him, leading to a conditional sentence in February 2023 for unspecified charges he believed stemmed solely from his refusal “to go kill people in Ukraine.”

He described years of harassment, including an unjustified home raid that forced him into hiding. The final straw came the prior week when he was summoned before an “investigative committee” and warned of a potential 20-year prison term.

Escape route via St. Petersburg

The man told investigators he packed minimal belongings and flew to St. Petersburg, where he immediately took a 17,500-ruble (approx. €170) taxi to Vyborg. After spending one night in a hotel, he hired another taxi to Bolshoy Bor, near the border zone.

He recalled the driver growing suspicious of his destination. When stopped at a checkpoint outside Vyborg, they claimed to be visiting a sanatorium—a cover story the driver had suggested. After authorities photographed his documents, they were allowed to proceed.

Dropped off near the frontier, he navigated dense forest on foot toward Finland. Along the way, he stretched the wires of a two-meter-tall fence to pass through, then used pliers to cut openings in two additional barriers near the Finnish border before being detained.

Finnish Border Guard records do not confirm all details of his account. On Tuesday this week, authorities in Lieksa intercepted a Swedish man who had inadvertently crossed into Russia and back.