Narva is an odd place, almost an anomaly. It is located on the edge of the eastern flank of NATO. However, Narva is Estonia's third largest city. Nearly 60,000 people are 97% Russian-speaking. This makes it the largest Russian-speaking European city.
It is located on the west bank of the River Narva, which flows into the Baltic Sea. Russia is on the eastern bank. It feels like a Cold War frontier to a first-time visitor. The river is divided into two giant fortresses, one on each side. The international border runs down the middle.
Narva Castle is to the west, which was built in 13th century by invading Danes. To the east is Ivangorod Fortress which was built in 1492 by a Muscovite Grand Princess.
Because Estonia's border with Russia is almost entirely along a lake, it is likely that any future invasion of Moscow will be either here or further south, near Latvia.
A road bridge spans the Narva River. It is flanked by a high chain-link fence with barbed wire at each end and customs posts at both ends. Erik Liiva is my host. He is a border police superintendent or, as he calls himself in Estonia, a commissar. He is tall, bearded, and armed. He escorts us down the road until we reach the red line.
He tells me, "You have now crossed the border." "You have reached the Russian Federation's edge."
I want to know how relations have changed with Russian counterparts since the invasion of Ukraine.
Liiva replied, "We don’t have much contact but we do have an operational hotline." We have increased our border patrols and are now doing more thorough checks of vehicles entering the country.
According to the Estonian border police thousands of Ukrainians are streaming through this post, many of them fleeing the horrors of Mariupol or other war zones. Over 300 people a day crossed into Estonia to escape the horrors of Mariupol and other war zones. Most were moving on to other countries, or returning to Ukraine.
Katri Raik is the newly elected mayor of Narva. I met her in a town bar.
She says, "Ukraine's our war." "We feel it here."
She says that there was a "tense silence" in the city when the invasion started. Nobody spoke of it. Only 47% are Estonians, 36% Russians, and the rest are classified as "aliens", i.e. stateless, mostly Russian-speaking.
