A friend of mine is taking the Train from Finland to Russia. She has now paid and sent the Tourist visa application, with the requested validity being from 3 to 16 August.
Now she's considering entering the evening before, so I would like to ask the following:
The Train she wants to take arrives at Vyborg (first Russian station) on 2 August at 22:22, then St Petersburg at 23:27. The Russian border guards board the train at Vyborg and do the checks while the Train is travelling between the stations, so sometime between 22:30-23:00
If the visa validity starts on 3 August, and she is checked at 22:30-23:00 the evening before, what would happen? Are they very strict about the starting date if it's within 1-1.5 hours, and how bad would the consequences be?
Although they do the check while travelling between Vyborg and St Petersburg, could they simply wait until arrival in St Petersburg, then hold her in custody for 30 minutes and then stamp her in?