On the 11th of January, Russian border guards detained five Latvian ice fishermen who had accidentally crossed over to the Russian side on the ice, writes ERR News.
After more than a week of freezing temperatures, Lake Peipus, which also forms most of Estonia’s eastern border, was almost completely open for fishing. The smaller lakes of Pihkva and Lämmijärv, which are connected to Lake Peipus and where fishing could begin earlier, have also been open to Lämmijärv since December. It was on the Lämmijärv ice that a border violation occurred – on the morning of the 11th of January, five Latvian citizens wandered into Russian territory, where they were stopped by Russian border guards.
The transfer of Latvians to Estonian border guards began on Monday afternoon, the 12th of January, when Russian authorities allowed the men to return to Estonia. Jalmar Ernits, head of the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) Mustve post, said that the Latvians were most likely punished administratively, and it can be assumed that the men simply did not notice the prohibition signs in the dark.
Both Estonians and Russians use hovercraft to monitor the border, but the ice makes the work difficult, especially in places where drifts have formed. Ernits explained that a thin layer of ice first formed, which strong winds then carried together, forming sharp drifts of ice, which makes it difficult for both the border guards and the ice fishermen. The road to the middle of Lämmijärv is said to be particularly difficult. Tartu fisherman Harry Tikerpuu told the program Aktuaalne kaamera that
he had never seen such a difficult situation and experienced such difficulty moving on ice.
Despite that the fishing goes on at full pace. Tikerpuu arrived in Lämmijärv even before the permit to climb Peipus was announced. He said that the urge to fish is always there, and since ice climbing is not allowed elsewhere yet, he came to fish in Lämmijärv, although he said that there are not too many fish.
Three other Latvians from Rēzekne drove three and a half hours to spend several days fishing in Lämmijärv. Andris Raudovičs told the Estonian media that the ice in Latvia is too thin.
To avoid unpleasant situations, the PPA urged people to bring not only fishing gear, but also identification documents and a navigation device, and it is also advisable to save the phone number of the local PPA post on their phone.
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