Nowhere in the municipality of Ilomantsi can a visitor get closer to the Russian border without a special permit. East Point is on an islet in Lake Virmajärvi, 68 kilometres farther east than downtown St. Petersburg, Russia. The border runs between Finnish and Russian border markers only 100 metres 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 WWII. In the Treaty, Finland was forced to cede one third of the surface area of the municipality of Ilomantsi 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 kilometres, and 350 metres before the car park the roadway becomes hemmed in on either side by the border zone. The 180-metre trail from the car park to the viewing platform is separated with ropes that must not be crossed.

Two kilometes before the car park is a junction. From here, the road that the Red Army used in its drive towards 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 kilometre from East Point. The distance from East Point to Hullari is five kilometres.

After an armistice came into force on 4 September 1944, the Finnish forces were forced to retreat behind the border established in the 1940 Moscow Peace Treaty. Outposts were established near the new border in order to keep an eye on the former enemy, who had turned into a neighbour. Captain Lauri Törni (later known as Larry Thorne) was involved in these operations.