LOVE IN WAR
Bizarre moment ‘lovestruck Brit tries to cross border into Putin’s Russia on FOOT to meet online girlfriend’
The 37-year-old attempted to cross the Polish border twice before he was detained
THIS is the bizarre moment a lovestruck Brit appears to try to cross the Russian border on foot hoping to meet his online girlfriend.
The besotted 37-year-old, branded a "stubborn Englishman" reportedly attempted twice to cross into Kaliningrad, a western Russian enclave between Poland and Lithuania.
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The 37-year-old Brit is said to have arrived at the Polish border in his BMW but with no visa or vehicle documents demanding to be let into Russia.
He told guards he had to get across the border at Grzechotki to meet his new girlfriend 700 miles away in St Petersburg.
The territory of Kaliningrad, next to the NATO borders, is used as a headquarters for Russia's Baltic fleet and some of its most powerful weapons including hypersonic missiles.
Footage shows him seemingly trying to get through on foot along woodland roads before he was detained.
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He claimed his satnav had gone wrong.
The Polish border guards said the Englishman was ";stubborn", adding: "Officers from the Border Guard Station in Grzechotki detained an Englishman who entered the border road.
"The man wanted to get to Russia. The purpose of his trip was a girl he met on the Internet."
"At the road border crossing in Grzechotki on 23rd February at 2 am, a British citizen showed up for border customs on his way out of Poland.
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"The man did not have a visa to Russia or a vehicle registration certificate.
"He claimed that he wanted to go to St Petersburg to visit his fiancee, whom he met on the Internet.
"Border Guard officers informed the traveller that he could not cross the border because he did not have the required documents.
"A few hours later, the 37-year-old drove his BMW to the area of the Polish-Russian border, the so-called green border.
"Around 5.30 a.m., Border Guard cameras recorded a man who entered the border road.
"The detained Englishman explained to the Border Guard officers that the navigation had directed him wrong."
After being slapped with a £120 fine, the Brit was released - and told guards he would try to enter Russia through Lithuania.
The Border Guard spokesperson said: "He said he wanted to go to the girl he met online so much that he has decided to go to Lithuania and from there to Russia.
"Officers from PSG in Grzechotki fined the 37-year-old man for entering the border road lane of PLN 500 [GBP 100]. The Englishman also paid PLN 100 [GBP 20] for failing to obey a B-1 'traffic prohibited in both directions' sign."
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The UK Foreign Office advises all British nationals against travel in Russia due to the risks and threats from its war in Ukraine.
A FCDO source said they had not been approached for assistance over this case, but they stand ready to support all its citizens abroad.
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