The Russians Are Coming: Estonia's National Militia
Posted
December 2, 2015
Views
1,430,875
Likes
15,911
Comments
5,090
Engagement
1.47%
December 2, 2015
1,430,875
15,911
5,090
1.47%
Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
See what was published immediately before and after this episode.
19:41Now PlayingSince Russia’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict in 2014, nearby Baltic states have been on high alert. Estonia, the smallest country in the region, signed a military equipment deal worth 138 million euros ($147 million) last December — the largest procurement in its history.
The country also has a growing militia, known as the Estonian Defense League, made up of 15,000 volunteers. They take part in war scenario exercises, with many of the members keeping firearms of their own at home. Should Estonia's sovereignty be threatened, the militia will be called upon to defend it at all costs.
The organization's membership has risen by 10 percent since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, partly based on national Estonian fears that Russia will attempt to breach its eastern border. NATO has increased its fighter jets and ground troops in the country, as a show of what they say is support to its ally, yet Russia has claimed this is "provocative" and held its own military exercises near the border.
VICE News follows 800 members of the Estonian Defense League on a combat training exercise to find out how they are preparing for a possible confrontation. We also meet with US NATO air support and speak to ethnic Russians in the Estonian border city of Narva.
Watch "The Russians Are ComingGeorgia's Creeping Occupation"
Watch "The Russians Are ComingNATO's Frontier"
Watch "The Russians Are ComingLithuania's Operation Lightning Strike"
Read "Russia Is Freaking Out Its Northern Neighbors"
Subscribe to VICE News here
Check out VICE News for more
Follow VICE News here:
More videos from the VICE network
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.
