Latvia closes two checkpoints on Russian border

Latvia on October 16 closed two checkpoints on the border with Russia - Vientuli and Pededze.

The situation at the closed checkpoint of Vientuli is calm, the head of the Vetsum volost administration Ilmar Lotsans told LETA news agency, Oreanda News reports.

There are concrete barriers on the border. Tents set up in preparation for the influx of border crossers are being dismantled.

The pilot said that people stuck at the Vientuli checkpoint will be transported by buses to the nearest border checkpoint in Grebnevo (on the Russian side - the Ubylinka checkpoint). After that, only border guards will remain in Vientuli.

Earlier, the Latvian government decided to close the Vientuli and Pededze checkpoints from October 16. Vientuli is the smallest border control point on the Latvian-Russian border with the lowest throughput.

There are still border posts in Terekhovo and Grebnevo on the Latvian-Russian border.

Since the Government of the Russian Federation, for security reasons, introduced a temporary special procedure for the entry of Ukrainian citizens into Russia from October 16, until Monday, the Vientuli checkpoint (from the Russian side, the Ludonka checkpoint in the Pskov region) remained the last opportunity for Ukrainian passport holders to enter Russia from third countries by land. After the closure of Vientuli, the possibility of entry to the Russian Federation for Ukrainian citizens will remain only through the checkpoint at Moscow Sheremetyevo airport.

For his part, the head of the State Border Guard of Latvia, Guntis Puyats, previously explained that the decision of the Russian Federation to allow Ukrainian citizens to enter the country by land only through the Ludonka border checkpoint could lead to the concentration of several thousand people on the Latvian border.