"Temporarily suspend, starting July 1, 2026, the movement of people, vehicles, goods and cargo through designated sections of rail border crossing points located along the state border of the Russian Federation, in accordance with the list provided in the annex," the order states.

Border crossings will be temporarily suspended at the following locations:

• On the Estonian border: Petseri (Pechory-Pskovskiye, Pskov Oblast).
• On the Latvian border: Põtalovo (Pskov Oblast).
• On the Finnish border: Viiburi and Svetogorsk (Leningrad Oblast), Värtsilä and Lüttä (Republic of Karelia) and the St. Petersburg Finland Railway Station (St. Petersburg-Finlyandsky, St. Petersburg).

The government order was signed by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on June 30 and published on the country's official legal information portal. The document also instructs Russian authorities to formally notify Tallinn, Riga and Helsinki of the upcoming changes.

Although the official notice emphasizes that the measure is temporary, the document does not specify when the restrictions will end or give a direct reason for the closures. The change will directly affect international logistics and freight transport between the countries concerned.

❗️Russia will temporarily suspend the movement of people, vehicles, goods, and cargo through several rail border crossings with Finland, Estonia, and Latvia from July 1 under a government order signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The order applies to designated railway… pic.twitter.com/EL36iXIi4t

— NOELREPORTS (@NOELreports) June 30, 2026

Decision takes Estonian Railways by surprise

The decision to restrict rail traffic came as a surprise to Estonian Railways, but it will have little logistical impact, Estonian Railways CCO Artur Raichmann told ERR.

"Essentially, we learned overnight that trains would not be crossing through the Koidula border crossing on Tuesday. One train is waiting on the Russian side in Pechory to travel here and another was waiting in Koidula to head toward Pechory. So there was no advance notice of the decision," Raichmann said.

"The biggest challenge is the uncertainty about what exactly is behind these decisions and what the future holds. From the perspective of an infrastructure company, it doesn't change much for us because, statistically, an average of just 0.3 to 0.4 trains cross the eastern border each day. That works out to roughly one train every three days, so it doesn't present a complex logistical challenge," Raichmann said.

Although eastbound rail transit trade in its previous form has disappeared, with only the freight corridor serving Central Asian countries remaining and efforts underway to preserve it, several Estonian logistics companies had been counting on expanding trade ties with Kazakhstan following the Estonian president's state visit there last year, Raichmann said.

The article was updated to add a comment from Estonian Railways.

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