Getting to the Finnish capital from St. Petersburg after the closure of four checkpoints on the border with Russia is now not easy, however, there are still options – four northern checkpoints remain available for crossing the border, which operate on a reduced schedule. However, you will have to make a detour of a thousand kilometers, writes the newspaper Delovoy Peterburg with reference to the Finnish publication Ilta-Sanomat.
According to media reports, the road to Helsinki from St. Petersburg has become five times longer. Now, instead of the previous 4.5 hours of travel, excluding border procedures, it will take 20 hours or more – and only from Helsinki to Vartius about 660 km, which is more than 7.5. Further from Vartius to St. Petersburg is still at least 924 km and 12.5 hours of travel. In this case, motorists will have to go around Lake Ladoga.
You can also get from Russia to Finland via Kostomuksha by train from St. Petersburg, which leaves for this Karelian city at 16:15 and arrives the next morning at 9:00. From the Kostomukshi railway station to the Lyttä station, adjacent to the Finnish border crossing Vartius, it is only about 30 km.
Let us recall that on November 18, Finland closed four border crossings (Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra and Niirala) in the southeast of the country, explaining this by an increase in the number of illegal migrants and asylum seekers. The checkpoints will remain closed until February 18, 2024.
In total, there are nine checkpoints on the Russian-Finnish border. After the closure of four, the rest will work as usual, the press service of the North-West Customs Administration clarified. At the same time, the MTV3 channel reports the possible closure of all border checkpoints. Finnish media are already writing that the Vartius checkpoint was closed on November 18 by the Finnish authorities for the night due to overload – 67 asylum seekers arrived there in just one day.
Source: Rosbalt
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
