Estonia is moving troops closer to the border with the Russian Federation and preparing for a possible conflict — FT
Kyiv • UNN
Estonia is transferring a brigade to Jõhvi, 50 km from the border with the Russian Federation, and implementing an active defense strategy. The country is purchasing HIMARS and Chunmoo.
Estonia is redeploying a key brigade from the city of Tapa to Jõhvi, 50 kilometers from the Russian border, as part of launching an “active defense” strategy in preparation for possible aggression by russia. Estonian officials told the Financial Times, reports UNN.
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According to officials, Estonia is continuously moving troops closer to the border with Russia and purchasing weapons capable of striking deep into Russian territory, as this frontline NATO country prepares for possible aggression by moscow beyond Ukraine.
However, Estonia’s armed forces and intelligence chiefs do not believe that russia is seeking a full-scale war with NATO, at least over the next two years, but they are convinced that the russian federation is preparing for a possible future conflict with this Baltic state. This has prompted the country, which has no air force of its own, to adopt an “active defense” strategy.
“We have to start at the border and win the first battles,” said Colonel Tarmo Kundla, commander of Estonia’s First Brigade, the country’s main combat force.
Under the new strategy, his unit will be permanently redeployed from Tapa to Jõhvi, 50 km from the Russian border, where large new facilities for housing soldiers are currently being built.
“Deterrence is not working. The critical period for resolving this issue for all of us in the Baltic countries is the next one to four years,” said a representative of Estonian military intelligence.
“For deterrence to be credible, we must make aggression against us unthinkable. Our goal is clear: to keep the enemy and the devastation of war away from Estonian territory,” Estonia’s Ministry of Defence emphasized.
In May, the Estonian government introduced the term “active defense” into its national security concept. Since then, the country’s armed forces have begun a quiet but radical reorganization. From Tapa, Estonia’s main military base, elite units are being permanently redeployed to positions closer to the Russian border. In addition to the new base in Jõhvi, a base designed to accommodate 1,000 servicemembers is also being built in the border city of Narva.
Over the past year, the country has signed contracts to purchase nine American Himars multiple-launch rocket systems, M57 ballistic missiles with a range of up to 300 km, as well as nine South Korean Chunmoo MLRS units with a similar range. It should be noted that the distance from Estonian border bases to Russia’s St. Petersburg is 260 km.
During the decade following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014, Estonian military strategists developed a defense doctrine shaped by the country’s history and geography. Under this approach, in the event of aggression, the country’s conscripts would rapidly mobilize and conduct a tactical, almost guerrilla-style defense to impede Russian forces and inflict losses on them until NATO reinforcements arrived.
However, observing russia’s actions in Ukraine, Estonia’s military leaders concluded that such a plan would not work. They now believe that the kremlin does not care about losses, fighting to retain captured territory even after everything on it has been destroyed.
Estonia now plans to fight for every inch of territory and deliver powerful strikes against russia hundreds of kilometers behind the front line from the first day of any invasion.
At the same time, Tallinn’s greatest concern is the possible end of the war in Ukraine, after which russia could redeploy tens of thousands of battle-hardened troops to NATO’s borders. Estonian intelligence believes that this is precisely why the Baltic countries need to use the coming years to strengthen their defenses and deter russia.