On the evening of October 10, what had long been expected finally happened — sooner or later, Russia was bound to do something that would put our people in a difficult position. For context: the [Estonian] road from Värska to Saatse crosses Russian territory twice. Each day, residents of Lutepää, Sesniki and Saatse used that road to get home. But on the evening of October 10, the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) closed the route through the Saatse Boot after border guards observed the movement of larger, armed Russian units on the other side. (An agreement between Estonia and Russia allows vehicles to pass through without stopping – ed.)

At the time, no one realized this would mark the end of an era. The road had been more than a route — it was also an exotic tourist attraction that drew visitors from near and far. By government decision, those road sections have now been permanently closed. Instead of a pass-through, there are now barriers, fences and prohibition signs.

To get to and from work, residents must now use an RMK forest road, which has become muddy and potholed due to heavy rain and increased traffic. The journey is longer and the added fuel costs must be covered out of pocket. A proper detour route isn't expected for at least another year.

Naturally, locals are upset. Many are throwing up their hands and asking why things always have to reach a breaking point before any action is taken — implying that the detour road should have been ready long ago. After all, the situation had been known for years, as was the fact that the PPA itself avoided using these direct routes for security reasons.

Caught in the middle of all this, metaphorically speaking, are the residents of Lutepää, who live between the two "boots." While they weren't technically trapped — until a makeshift bypass was rapidly built, people continued to use the short stretch of road that briefly crosses Russian territory — the situation wasn't without risk. More importantly, locals now feel cut off, isolated by the sudden quiet of a road that used to be part of daily life.

The road isn't the only infrastructure crossing Russian territory. A 10-kilovolt medium-voltage overhead power line also connects Värska and Saatse, supplying electricity to the region. Like the road, the line crosses into Russian territory twice: in the Small Boot for about 400 meters (four utility poles) and in the Big Boot for 1.1 kilometers (twelve utility poles).

According to Elektrilevi, before the war began, they were always able to access the power lines on Russian territory thanks to cooperation between the two countries' border guards. That's no longer possible.

All parties involved are aware of the potential scenarios: if the Russians want to continue their border games, all it would take is interference with the power line running through their territory. The bad news is that if both the small and large boot segments are cut at once, the village of Lutepää would be left without power.

But the threat doesn't even need to come from the Russians — one untrimmed tree falling onto the line could do the same.

Naturally, the whole area doesn't depend solely on this one line. A loop supply ensures that people in Sesniki and Saatse remain connected to the grid. The same system would keep the lights on in Lutepää, provided the outage affects only one section of the boot.

Elektrilevi says it launched a project to reroute the power lines out of Russian territory as soon as the security situation began to deteriorate. The reconstruction of the segment in the Small Boot is expected to be completed by the end of this year and the section in the Big Boot during the second quarter of next year. There's also a crisis plan in place to restore the grid if the lines on Russian soil go down.

In the meantime, as is often the case around here, all we can do is keep our fingers crossed that everything continues without disruption. Maybe we'll get lucky.

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