Deep in a forest near Estonia's capital city Tallinn, a dozen young recruits crawl through the mud, dragging kits and rifles beside them. A few meters away, a Sergeant Major barks: " Faster Delta company and keep those rifles dry - they belong to the state, not you". These are the newest volunteers of Kaitseliit (Estonian Defense League) preparing to fight if the Russian bear growls on their border. In civilian life, they work, raise families and enjoy a peaceful lifestyle since Estonia regained independence from Russia in 1991. But today, they prepare for the worst. During a break in training, 18 year old student Kevin Ungro said: "I want to defend my homeland, my family.... the more people know how to handle a gun, the better our chances of defending ourselves". Realistically of course, the 14,500 members of Kaitseliit and the 4,000 strong professional military could not stop a Russian blitzkrieg, but they could at least slow them down until NATO allies came to the rescue.
For one new recruit, fear was the motivating factor for enlistment. "Russia's attack against Ukraine influenced all of us a lot. If Russia can act like this in Ukraine, they are surely able to do the same thing here". Apart from bordering Russia, another concern for Estonians is the fact that 25% of the population are ethnic Russian. No one questions their loyalty, but they do worry that Vladimir Putin will use it as a pretext to invade. He regularly talks about the need to defend ethnic Russian minorities from "hostile" governments. (Putin used this as "justification" to attack Eastern Ukraine, Adolf Hitler used it as a "legitimate" reason to invade Poland in 1939)
The other Baltic states, Lithuania and Latvia, are raising similar "citizens' armies". Even Poland is witnessing a surge of new recruits for the Home Guard. Unlike Ukraine, all of these nations belong to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Article 5 of the NATO Charter commits alliance members, including America, to defend each other if any one is attacked.
Tensions are high but morale is strong. All eyes are on Czar Putin. Will he or won't he? Only the Russian bear knows for sure.
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