Border guard of the Russian Federation removed light buoys from Narva River

On the night of 23 May, the Russian border guard removed the buoys placed in Estonian waters of the Narva River, which are used to mark the shipping routes.

According to Eerik Purgel, head of the Border Guard Bureau of the East Prefecture, Estonia and Russia install buoys in the Narva River every spring, marking the shipping routes. “Whereas the temporary control line is permanently marked at the land border, the riverbed changes over time, which is why we recheck the marking of the shipping routes every spring. While before the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the installation of buoys largely passed by mutual agreement, then from 2023 Russia does not agree with Estonia’s positions regarding the location of the buoys. We decided to release the floating marks into the water for the summer season according to the 2022 agreement, because they are necessary to avoid navigational errors, so that our fishermen and other hobbyists do not accidentally wander into Russian waters,” Purgel said.

This year, Russia announced that they would not agree with the locations of about half of the planned 250 floating marks. Estonia installed light buoys in Estonian waters on the basis of the State Borders Act and the locations of buoys agreed between border representations in 2022. The first 50 buoys were installed in the Narva River on 13 May. At 3 p.m. on Thursday night, border guards detected that the border guards of the Russian Federation had begun to remove floating marks and 24 buoys were taken out during the night, some of which were among the marks at issue.

The Police and Border Guard Board will contact the Russian Border Guard and request clarifications on the removal of the buoys and return of buoys. The Police and Border Guard Board expects evidence from Russia that the position of the shipping route agreed so far has changed and, if they are not presented, we will continue to install buoys,” Purgel said.

The buoys have been installed in the river for decades for the navigation season, and they are necessary to avoid navigation errors.