A Lithuanian worker carrying out technical work accidentally entered Russia via a railway bridge and was detained there, the State Border Guard Service (VSAT) said on Thursday.
The incident was reported on Wednesday afternoon by border guards from the Kybartai Frontier Station who had to arrange for the Russian officials to return the man to Lithuania after a few hours.
Border guards said they saw how an employee of a contractor on the Lithuanian side approached the Lithuanian-Russian border line marked on the bridge while carrying out control work on the railway’s electrical system. There are warnings on the bride, stating that the border line runs there.
The worker was checking electrical panels when he accidentally entered Russian territory and was soon detained by Russian border guards.
Lithuanian border guards immediately took action and copies of the Lithuanian citizen’s documents were soon handed over to the Russian border guards and measures were taken to have the man returned to Lithuania.
Lithuanian and Russian border guards met near the Kybartai checkpoint and the worker was handed over to the Lithuanian side after spending more than five hours in Russia.
As the Russian border guards punished the Lithuanian national for careless border crossing with an administrative penalty of 2,000 Russian roubles (about 20 euros), the worker was not punished a second time for the same offence in Lithuania.
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