Overview
- Russia ordered a temporary halt to movement of people, vehicles, goods and cargo through seven rail checkpoints effective July 1, 2026, closing five crossings on the Finland border and one each with Estonia and Latvia.
- The affected Finnish points include St. Petersburg–Finlyandsky, Vyborg, Värtsilä (Vyartsilya/Lyuttya), Svetogorsk and related lines while Pechory and Pytalovo were closed on the Estonian and Latvian frontiers.
- The government directed the Foreign Ministry to notify Finland, Estonia and Latvia but officials gave no public reason for the suspensions and offered no date for reopening.
- The closures leave Finland without any open railway crossings with Russia and are expected to squeeze regional rail freight flows such as rail-carried fertilizer and other cross-border cargo.
- The decree follows reporting of expanded Russian military infrastructure near NATO borders and builds on earlier 2022–2023 limits to land links, increasing diplomatic and security concerns in neighbouring states.