Russian observation balloon seen monitoring people gathered at Narva border point

TALLINN – While almost a thousand people were waiting to enter Russia at the northeastern Narva border crossing point on Friday, a Russian observation balloon was monitoring the activity from the other side, the Estonian daily Postimees reports.

Rus.Postimees, the Russian-language online edition of Postimees, writes that this is not the first time that a balloon has risen into the sky on the territory of Russia. Eerik Purgel, head of the border guard bureau of the East Prefecture of the Police and Border Guard Board, said that the balloon is likely to be equipped with a surveillance device, with which Russia collects information.

Head of the Narva border checkpoint Marek Liiva said on the Kuku Raadio radio channel that the balloon has been visible for about three days and the Estonian border authority is constantly monitoring the situation.

Purgel added that it is not possible for Estonia to prevent Russia's actions, since Russia is flying the balloon on its own territory.

The balloon could be seen descending into the bushes on the opposite bank of Narva River at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.