Provocation Under the Wagner’s Flag: Russian FSB Stages Show on Estonia Border

An FSB border guard boat flying the Wagner PMC flag was spotted on the Narva River, which separates Estonia and Russia.

This was reported by Estonia’s ERR media outlet.

In a post on social media on Sunday, Estonia’s Foreign Ministry wrote sarcastically that this time the Wagner mercenary group may have “captured” the FSB border guard.

“Is Wagner marching on Moscow again, or starting with St. Petersburg this time? Hard to tell. From our side it looks like they’ve already annexed the Russian border guards. Who knows…” the ministry said.

Is Wagner marching on Moscow again, or starting with St. Petersburg this time? Hard to tell.
From our side it looks like they’ve already annexed the Russian border guards.
Who knows… @mfa_russia? pic.twitter.com/fJmENccVzC

— Estonian MFA 🇪🇪 | 🌻 #StandWithUkraine (@MFAestonia) November 2, 2025

Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the incident shows how Russia’s “iron system” is cracking under the pressure of the war it launched and Western influence.

“We can also confirm that whatever the Russians are trying to do on the Narva River, it is happening under our close supervision,” Tsahkna said, commenting on the FSB’s actions.

Provocations in Narva

This is not the first Russian provocation in Narva.

In May 2022, Russia’s border service had reportedly removed more than 20 buoys marking shipping lanes on the river.

The buoys have been placed on the river for decades to prevent navigational errors.

Estonia installs markers in its waters under the State Border Act, and the buoy placement was agreed on by border authorities in 2022.

This year, however, Russia did not approve the placement of about half of the 250 markers. Some of the buoys removed on Thursday morning are among those Russia disputes.

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, buoy placement was mostly handled by mutual agreement, but since 2023 Russia has not agreed with Estonia’s position on the issue.