ST PETERSBURG, April 19. /TASS/. Border guards in the Vyborg district of the Leningrad Region have detained a citizen of Germany who illegally crossed the border into Russia from Finland. The man has been taken into custody, the press service of the border guard office of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region said on Wednesday.

"On April 17, 2023, an unknown person travelling on foot from Finland into Russia was detected and detained in the Vyborg district near Russia’s state border. The man’s identity was checked. He turned out to be a citizen of the Federal Republic of Germany," the news release says.

The foreigner had bank cards and cash on his person. Border guards notified the Finnish side about the incident.

A criminal case was opened against the man under part 1 of article 322 of the Criminal Code (Illegal crossing of the state border). A court sent the detainee to a pre-trial detention center in Vyborg. If found guilty, he faces two to six years in prison.

According to the border guard press service, since the beginning of last year there have been seven similar cases of illegal border crossings by foreign nationals. Two trespassers were detained while attempting to cross the border from Estonia, and five on the Finnish border.