I spent 24 hours on the Russian border. People are living on 'thin ice'

A bridge forms the official border crossing over the river and on the Estonian side it's heavily fortified.

For years military experts have warned Narva could become the next Donbas or Crimea: a town in Estonia occupied by Russia.

But when I put this to the Mayor of Narva, he quickly shut it down, unhappy with the comparison.

The population is over 90 per cent Russian-speaking, but Mayor Jaan Toots told me that despite this fact, people feel more aligned with Europe than they do with Russia.

"There might be tensions arising between Nato and Russia, but not in the feelings of the inhabitants of Narva," Mayor Toots told me.

He even pointed to the fact that Narva is building two new hotels, and suggested that tourists should visit.

Will Godley delivered this special first-person report from Nato's eastern flank

GB NEWS

But a recent report from the Danish intelligence service found Russia could launch a limited military attack on a bordering Nato country 'in the coming months'.

Any attack could be under the pretext of protecting the Russian population of that country, the report said.

And recently Putin has claimed Russian people's rights are being violated in the Baltics, something Estonia denies.

So despite what the Mayor said, I wanted to find out whether people in Narva are actually worried about increasing Russian aggression.

Throughout our 24 hours at the border, I spoke with a number of different Narva residents.

One told me, "Narva is sitting on thin ice," when it comes to tensions with Russia.

Another lady, Elena, said she "feared for the safety of her family in Russia" if she spoke to me about the Russian tension with Nato.

But someone who runs the local high school wasn't afraid of speaking out.

Rene Abramson has lived in Narva for 40 years and has a wife and two children. He told me he's worried about living here.

"I'm worried about my safety if something were to happen here. Will my family and I be safe? Can I get out of here?" Rene tells me.

Rene Abramson says he would feel safer living here if there were British soldiers patrolling the border.

He told me, "I think Nato should put some border guards here. Not only Estonians, but maybe some Americans, or British, should be here, and then maybe it will be a signal to the Kremlin to not even think about it."

He thinks the UK would spend more on defence if Russian threats were closer to Britain, at a time when the UK is failing to meet its defence spending target of 3 per cent of GDP.

When we visited the highly sensitive Estonian border with Russia, the guards told me they didn't know what Russia was planning, but that they were prepared for whatever might come next.

On the Estonian side of the bridge, there are four layers of roadblocks and barbed wire to stop any unwanted Russians.

On the Estonian side of the bridge, there are four layers of roadblocks and barbed wire to stop any unwanted Russians

GB NEWS

Guards are also constantly watching the Russian side through binoculars, aware that tensions are high.

They say there's no evidence of a Russian build-up of troops on the border, and that it remains calm.

But the question is, for how long?

As we were visiting the border, the Estonian Prime Minister held a press conference, declaring Russian FSB agents were behind an arson attack on a military factory in Tallinn.

The factory makes robotic weapons to be used in Ukraine, and the PM said the attack was designed to sabotage their weapons.

Russia denied involvement, but as its hybrid war on the West intensifies, the message from the Estonian Government is clear: "We will not be intimidated."