A Polish man attempted to join Putin’s army by swimming across an Estonian river on an inflatable mattress. Estonian border guards stopped him. Now he is arrested.

The 49-year-old was caught last week trying to cross the Narva River, which separates Estonia from Russia, according to RMF24. His plan? Float across on a mattress and enlist in Russian forces fighting Ukraine, according to prosecutors.

The Polish citizen had traveled to Estonia from Serbia and was carrying items that demonstrated support for Russian military actions in Ukraine—possibly a St. George ribbon or the letter “Z” that Russian supporters display.

Can foreigners just decide to join Russia’s military? Not through Estonia. The country’s internal security service treats this as a criminal act under national law.

“Joining the army of the Russian Federation indirectly threatens the security of Estonia, as well as all European Union member states,” prosecutor Gardi Anderson told reporters.

The Viru district court ordered two months detention. Why so long? Prosecutors argued the man might flee or try crossing again if released immediately.

Estonian Internal Security Service spokesperson Marta Tuul explained their approach:

“To prevent such actions, we also prosecute citizens of other states who try to support Russia’s military actions through Estonia.”

What happens next? The Polish citizen faces charges under Estonian law that criminalizes participation in foreign acts of aggression. His case could set precedent for how Baltic states handle similar attempts to reach Russian military recruiters.

Russian soldiers from the 247th Air Assault Regiment in the temporarily occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast are deserting en masse, according to Atesh, the Crimean-Ukrainian partisan movement.

According to its reports, the highest number of desertions is occurring in one particular battalion of the regiment. The main reason is the forced conscription of residents from occupied territories, particularly Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Crimea.

“Lawlessness, incompetent command, refusal to register reports, intimidation, and constant front-line losses only fuel the desire to flee,“ notes Atesh.

The Russian army is collapsing from within

This is not an isolated incident. Earlier, Russia’s Defense Ministry sent a commission to the 1196th Motorized Rifle Regiment stationed in occupied Kherson Oblast. The reason? Soldier suicides and sabotage of watercraft. All of this signals demoralization and disintegration within the occupying forces.

Russia cynically exploits the occupied territories

The desertion of those forcibly mobilized from occupied areas once again proves: Russia doesn’t view residents of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, or Crimea as its citizens, but as cannon fodder.

Locals are conscripted by force, without basic rights — no contracts, no legal status, no rotations.
Wounds aren’t documented, discharges are ignored, and complaints lead to persecution. At the same time, occupied territories are being turned into military bases for further aggression against Ukraine. 

How much of Zaporizhzhia Oblast does Russia control?

As of August 2025, Russia controls about 60% of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Major occupied towns include Melitopol, Berdiansk, Tokmak, and Enerhodar.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodar poses the largest nuclear threat in Europe. Russia has mined the facility, uses it as cover for shelling, and deploys troops there. 

Russian ruler Vladimir Putin has cynically commented on the war in Ukraine for the first time since US President Donald Trump issued his 10-day ultimatum on Russia. Last week, the American president gave Russia ten days to reach a peaceful settlement, threatening massive sanctions if this does not happen by 8 August, UNIAN reports.

Moscow is ready to wait

During a meeting with the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, Putin spoke positively about the negotiations in Turkiye and the prisoner exchanges, stating that Moscow is “ready to wait” if Kyiv is not prepared for talks.

At the same time, he said the Ukrainian political regime “is not based on the Constitution” and supports prolonged negotiations “without any time limits.”

In June, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed that the Kremlin used prisoner exchanges as a tool to delay the negotiation process with Ukraine and dodge sanctions. While sending back Ukrainian prisoners of war, beaten and tortured in captivity, Russia does not agree to any other proposition to end the war. 

Ukrainian soldier dies weeks after release from Russian captivity with his organs failing due to torture

Kremlin’s conditions remain the same as last year 

Putin confirmed that Russia’s conditions for ending the war, announced back in summer 2024, remain unchanged.

Last year, he insisted on the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. Moscow has illegally incorporated these Ukrainian regions into its Constitution. Additionally, Russia demands that Ukraine renounce NATO membership, enshrine a non-nuclear status, and lift sanctions.

Lukashenko says Zelenskyy should ask Putin to negotiate

In talks with propagandists, Putin boasted about the production of the first serial ballistic missile Oreshnik and the Russian army’s offensive along the entire front line.

In 2024, Russia used a Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle (MIRV) missile armed with conventional warheads to strike Dnipro. While MIRV technology has long been associated with nuclear delivery systems, this marked its first use in combat. The scale of the destruction remains unknown. According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Russia targeted industrial facilities and critical infrastructure in Dnipro.

Meanwhile, Lukashenko urged Zelenskyy “to simply sit down at the negotiating table” with Putin and emphasized that Minsk and Moscow will not kneel because they decisively defend their interests.