The group, who were from India, attempted to cross the border into Estonian waters using a rubber boat equipped with a motor near Mehikoorma on Lake Lämmijärv in Põlva County.

The Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) responded with large forces as the illegal border crossers had to be physically stopped. 

Never before have so many people attempted to cross the border with a motorboat on this body of water.

"At first they did not obey our orders to stop the journey, we had to physically stop them. It was obvious that their aim was not to come here and fall into the hands of the border guards, but to reach the shore and then disappear or disperse, so to speak. But when they were caught, they did not resist, but accepted everything that was happening," said Meelis Saarepuu, the PPA's head of the South Border Guard Bureau.

The PPA detained the border crossers and handed them over to the Russian border guard.

This year, 19 illegal border crossings have taken place on Lake Peipsi, of which Lake Lämmijärv is a part. Of those, 11 occurred in winter and eight in summer.

"Most of them are navigational errors of a random nature, people coming to the lake who are not from this area. They do not use proper navigational equipment. Especially if you are moving in an area where the border is very close to shore, it's very easy to make the mistake of wading into Russian waters," Saarepuu said

The incident took place as Latvia is seeing an uptick of illegal migration on its border with Belarus. Last winter, several groups of migrants tried to cross the Estonian-Russian border but were returned to the Russian border guard.

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