The men said curiosity brought them to the area, according to the Finnish Border Guard.
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The suspected illegal crossing took place in Paljakka, Kuusamo. File photo. Image: Timo Valtteri Sihvonen / Yle
The Finnish Border Guard suspects three young German men of illegally crossing the border on snowshoes into Russia, after catching the tourists as they made their way back to Finland on Wednesday evening.
The suspected illegal crossing took place in Paljakka, Kuusamo. There was no border fence in place at the crossing site, according to Finnish authorities.
A patrol of the Kainuu Border Guard District caught up with the snowshoeing tourists immediately after they returned, the agency said.
According to the Border Guard, the young men admitted to crossing the border, but explained that curiosity brought them to the area. Their stay on the other side of the eastern border was brief, they said.
The Kainuu Border Guard District’s company commander, Captain Juha Romppainen, said that the trio knew that entering the border zone was prohibited.
According to Romppainen, the case will soon proceed to the prosecutor for consideration of criminal charges, and that the tourists would be charged before they depart Finland, if the prosecutor decides to do so.
The Kainuu region Border Guard has also been in contact with their Russian counterparts at the Kaleva region border guard about the incident.
Finn crosses border too
The Finnish Border Guard reported another illegal crossing incident it said occurred early on Thursday morning in Imatra, an eastern border town in South Karelia.
According to the Border Guard, the suspected crossing, involving a Finnish citizen, was detected by Finland’s frontier surveillance system.
Russian authorities have been notified about the incident, according to the agency.
An investigation by Finland’s Southeast Border Guard District into the matter is to continue, it said.
Finland closed its entire eastern border to passenger traffic in December 2023 — amid suspicions that Russia was purposely pushing migrants to the checkpoints to put pressure on Finnish authorities.
Edited at 12:43 on 16 January 2026 to change photo.