A lovestruck Brit was arrested on February 23 after attempting to illegally cross the border from Poland into Russia, where he wanted to meet a girl he had met online.

According to Poland’s Border Guard, the 37-year-old man, labelled by authorities as a "stubborn Englishman," embarked on the risky journey in hopes of meeting his fiancée, located approximately 700 miles (1,127 km) away in St. Petersburg.

The escapade began when the Brit arrived at the Polish border in his BMW, with neither a Russian visa nor vehicle registration. Undeterred by the legalities of entry into Russia, he fervently insisted on gaining entry into Kaliningrad Oblast, the strategically significant Russian enclave nestled between Poland and Lithuania. 

“At the road border crossing in Grzechotki on 23 February at 2am, a British citizen arrived to cross the border, heading out of Poland,” an official Polish statement reads. “He claimed he wanted to travel to St Petersburg to visit his fiancée, whom he had met online.” 

He was turned away.

Just a few hours later, seemingly undeterred by the refusal of the border guards to let him leave Poland, he again tried to cross over to Russia. This time, he dumped his BMW, and instead attempted to cross the border on foot, bypassing the official control post. He was caught at 5.30 am and arrested before he could reach the border.

“The detained Englishman explained to the Border Guard officers that his navigation had misdirected him,” the Polish authorities’ press release said. 

“He also admitted that he was so keen to go to the girl he had met over the internet that he decided instead to head to Lithuania and cross to Russia from there.”

Officers fined the 37-year-old PLN500 ($125) for trespassing on the border road, with an extra PLN100 ($25) for failing to comply with traffic signs.