The North Karelia Border Guard is investigating a suspected illegal border crossing in Ilomantsi.
On Saturday evening, guards detained two foreign nationals suspected of entering Finland from Russia on foot, near the country's easternmost point.
A local hunter spotted the two on a road, gave them a lift, and notified emergency services. Border Guard officers intercepted them roughly 20 kilometres from the border.
The officers apprehended the individuals without incident, and both have applied for asylum in Finland.
The Border Guard has launched a preliminary investigation into a suspected illegal border crossing.
In response to the incident, the North Karelia Border Guard has contacted its counterpart in Russia's Suojärvi region.
Border remains closed
The border with Russia has been closed for nearly two years.
Finland began gradually closing all its checkpoints along the eastern border with Russia from October 2023, amid suspicions that Russia was channelling migrants to the crossing points to put pressure on Finnish authorities. The frontier was eventually fully shut later that year.
In April this year, the Finnish government said that the closure would remain in force "until further notice".
