A man climbed the closed border fence of the Valimaa checkpoint on Saturday and sought asylum in Finland, as reported by the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. The incident was confirmed by Kimmo Gronlund, the director of the Finnish Border Guard. In response to humanitarian reasons, the Valimaa and Niirala border crossings were temporarily opened but closed for border traffic on Friday evening at approximately 8 o’clock. Despite the closure, several individuals remained on the Russian side of the Valimaa checkpoint. However, one person managed to cross the border towards Finland at 3:00 PM local time on Saturday.

Gronlund stated that the individual successfully bypassed the barrier, which subsequently prompted improvements to prevent others from doing the same. The barrier’s height is now at least two meters. These details were reported by the Armenian news outlet, NEWS.am.