East Point

The easternmost point of Finland and continental European Union, or East Point, is worth a visit. Nowhere in the municipality of Ilomantsi can a visitor get closer to the Russian border without a special permit.

The border runs between Finnish and Russian border markers.

Easternmost point of Finland and continental European Union

East Point is on an islet in Lake Virmajärvi, 68 kilometers farther east than downtown St. Petersburg. The border runs between Finnish and Russian border markers only 100 meters from the viewing platform.

From the border markers to the northwest, the border follows the line drawn between Russia and Sweden in the 1617 Treaty of Stolbovo, while to the southwest, the course of the border was established in the Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940. The areas beyond the border belonged to Ilomantsi before the war. In the treaty, Finland was forced to cede one third of the surface area of the municipality to the Soviet Union.

Even the drive to East Point is a memorable experience as the road hugs the border zone for the last 1.7 kilometers, and 350 meters before the car park the roadway becomes hemmed in on either side by the border zone. The 180-meter trail from the car park to the viewing platform is separated with ropes that shall not be trespassed.

Two kilometers before the car park is a junction where the road that the Red Army used in its drive toward Ilomantsi in 1944 leads in the direction of Hullari, now on the Russian side of the border. The road, which skirts the southern end of Lake Lahnajärvi, crossed the present-day border one kilometer from East Point. The distance from East Point to Hullari is five kilometers

During the final phase of the war, the area saw a series of skirmishes when small straggling enemy groups were harassed by Finnish patrols scouring the forested terrain.

After the armistice came into force on September 4, 1944, the Finns established outposts near the new border. Their task was to keep an eye on the former enemy who had turned into a neighbor. Captain Lauri Törni (aka Larry Thorne) was involved in these operations.