Estonia–Russia relations
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Estonia–Russia relations are the bilateral
foreign relations A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through mu ...
between
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
and
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. Diplomatic relations between the
Republic of Estonia A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
and the
Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
were established on 2 February 1920, when
Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
recognized
de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...
the independence of the Republic of Estonia, and renounced in perpetuity all rights to the territory of Estonia, via the
Treaty of Tartu (Russian–Estonian) Treaty of Tartu may refer to: * Treaty of Tartu (Estonia–Russia) * Treaty of Tartu (Finland–Russia) , image = Treaty-of-Tartu.png , image_width = 150px , caption = The Finland–Russia border as decided in ...
. At the time, the
Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
s had just gained control of the majority of Russian territory, and their government's legitimacy was being hotly contested by Western powers and the Russian White movement.


History


Estonia and Kievan Rus

In 1030
Yaroslav the Wise Yaroslav the Wise or Yaroslav I Vladimirovich; russian: Ярослав Мудрый, ; uk, Ярослав Мудрий; non, Jarizleifr Valdamarsson; la, Iaroslaus Sapiens () was the Grand Prince of Kiev from 1019 until his death. He was als ...
of
Kievan Rus Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
organised a military expedition to the territory of
Chud Chud or Chude ( orv, чудь, in Finnic languages: tšuudi, čuđit) is a term historically applied in the early East Slavic annals to several Finnic peoples in the area of what is now Estonia, Karelia and Northwestern Russia. Arguably, the ...
s and built a fort he called Yuryev on the site of their former stronghold (in modern
Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...
). In 1060, Kievan Rus taxed Sosols (Estonian tribe), next year Sosols rose up, attacked Yuryev and destroyed it. During the reign of Yaroslav the Wise the first Russian
Christian Church In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a synonym fo ...
es were founded in Estonia. However, Estonia was not Christianised until the 13th century by German and Danish crusaders.


Estonia and Tsardom of Russia

In 1558
Ivan IV of Russia Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584. Ivan ...
invaded
Livonian Confederation Terra Mariana (Medieval Latin for "Land of Mary") was the official name for Medieval Livonia or Old Livonia ( nds, Oolt-Livland, liv, Jemā-Līvõmō, et, Vana-Liivimaa, lv, Livonija). It was formed in the aftermath of the Livonian Crusade, a ...
(the territory of the present-day Estonia and Latvia). Starting the
Livonian War The Livonian War (1558–1583) was the Russian invasion of Old Livonia, and the prolonged series of military conflicts that followed, in which Tsar Ivan the Terrible of Russia (Muscovy) unsuccessfully fought for control of the region (pre ...
(1558–1582), a military conflict between the
Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I i ...
and a coalition of
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
,
Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...
,
Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities *Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 *Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exist ...
(later the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
), and
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
.
Treaty of Jam Zapolski The Truce or Treaty of Yam-Zapolsky (Ям-Запольский) or Jam Zapolski, signed on 15 January 1582 between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia, was one of the treaties that ended the Livonian War. It followed t ...
in 1582 between Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Russia renounced its claims to Livonia. The following year, the Tsar also made peace with Sweden. Under the
Treaty of Plussa The Treaty or Truce of Plussa, Pljussa, Plyussa or Narva and Plusa (russian: Плюсское перемирие, sv, Stilleståndsfördrag vid Narva å och Plusa) was a truce between Russia and Sweden, which ended the Livonian War (1558-1583). ...
, Russia lost Narva and the southern coast of the
Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and E ...
, being its only access to the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
. The situation was partially reversed 12 years later, according to the
Treaty of Tyavzino The Treaty of Teusina, Tyavzin or Tyavzino ( fi, Täyssinän rauha), also known as the Eternal Peace with Sweden in Russia, was concluded by Russian diplomats under the boyar Afanasiy Pushkin (an ancestor of the poet Aleksandr Pushkin) and ambas ...
which concluded a new war between Sweden and Russia.


Estonia and Russian Empire


Great Northern War

Sweden's defeat in the
Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedi ...
in 1721 resulted the
Treaty of Nystad The Treaty of Nystad (russian: Ништадтский мир; fi, Uudenkaupungin rauha; sv, Freden i Nystad; et, Uusikaupunki rahu) was the last peace treaty of the Great Northern War of 1700–1721. It was concluded between the Tsardom of ...
, the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
gained Sweden's Baltic territories
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
(nowadays northern Estonia) and
Livonia Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...
, (nowadays southern Estonia and northern Latvia). The legal system,
Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
church, local and town governments, and education remained mostly German until the late 19th century and partially until 1918. By 1819, the
Baltic provinces The Baltic governorates (russian: Прибалтийские губернии), originally the Ostsee governorates (german: Ostseegouvernements, russian: Остзейские губернии), was a collective name for the administrative units ...
were the first in the Russian Empire in which
serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which develop ...
was abolished, allowing the farmers to own their own land. These moves created the economic foundation for the coming to life of the local national identity and culture as Estonia was caught in a current of national awakening that began sweeping through Europe in the mid-19th century.


Estonian Declaration of Independence

During World War I, between the retreating Russian and advancing German troops on 24 February 1918 the Salvation Committee of the Estonian National Council
Maapäev The Estonian Provincial Assembly ( et, Eestimaa Kubermangu Ajutine Maanõukogu, (Ajutine) Maanõukogu, Eesti Maanõukogu, (Eesti) Maapäev) was elected after the February Revolution in 1917 as the national diet of the Autonomous Governorate of ...
issued the Estonian Declaration of Independence.


Estonia and Russian SFSR


Estonian War of Independence

The Estonian War of Independence (1918–1920), which took place during the
Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...
, was the Republic of Estonia's struggle for sovereignty in the aftermath of World War I and the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
of 1917. The war ended in 1920 with Estonia's victory over Russia.


Treaty of Tartu

The Treaty of Tartu was a peace treaty between Estonia and Russian SFSR signed on 2 February 1920 ending the Estonian War of Independence. According to this treaty, Russia (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) recognized Estonia's sovereignty and renounced any and all territorial claims on Estonia.


Estonia and Soviet Union


Political relations


=Comintern

= In 1920 the rules were laid down in Russia at the Comintern's Second Congress, Communist parties abroad were to be created either afresh or else by splitting Social Democratic parties; in any case, they were to be accountable to Moscow and not to their domestic constituencies. Vladimir Lenin's incapacity and death (21 January 1924) triggered a struggle for power between Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. During the struggle Soviet foreign policy drifted. On 1 December 1924, Comintern conducted an attempted communist coup in Estonia.


Treaties between Estonia and USSR

Before World War II, the Republic of Estonia and USSR had both signed and ratified following treaties: ;Kellogg–Briand Pact :27 August 1928
Kellogg–Briand Pact The Kellogg–Briand Pact or Pact of Paris – officially the General Treaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy – is a 1928 international agreement on peace in which signatory states promised not to use war to ...
''renouncing war as an instrument of national policy'' Ratified by Estonia and USSR on 24 July 1929 ;Non-aggression treaty :Estonia, USSR on 4 May 1932 ;The Convention for the Definition of Aggression :On 3 July 1933 for the first time in the history of
international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...
,
aggression Aggression is overt or covert, often harmful, social interaction with the intention of inflicting damage or other harm upon another individual; although it can be channeled into creative and practical outlets for some. It may occur either reacti ...
was defined in a binding treaty signed at the Soviet Embassy in London by USSR and among others, The Republic of Estonia. :Article II defines forms of aggression. ''There shall be recognized as an aggressor that State which shall be the first to have committed one of the following actions'': :Relevant chapters: :*''Second– invasion by armed forces of the territory of another State even without a declaration of war.'' :*''Fourth– a naval blockade of coasts or ports of another State.''


=Beginning of World War II

= The fate of the relations between USSR and Republic of Estonia before World War II was decided by the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact and its Secret Additional Protocol of August 1939. *1 September 1939,
Germany invaded Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week afte ...
. *3 September, Great Britain, France, Australia, and New Zealand declared war on Germany *14 September, the Polish submarine ORP Orzeł reached
Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
, Estonia *17 September, Soviet Union invaded Poland *18 September,
Orzeł incident The ''Orzeł'' incident occurred at the beginning of World War II in September 1939, when the interned Polish submarine escaped from Tallinn, in neutral Estonia, to the United Kingdom. The Stalinist Soviet Union used the incident as one of ...
, the Polish submarine escaped from
internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
in Tallinn and eventually made her way to the United Kingdom, Estonia's neutrality was questioned by the Soviet Union and Germany. *On 24 September 1939, warships of the Red Navy appeared off Estonian ports, Soviet bombers began a threatening patrol over Tallinn and the nearby countryside.Moscow's Week
at ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' on Monday, 9 October 1939
In light of the
Orzeł incident The ''Orzeł'' incident occurred at the beginning of World War II in September 1939, when the interned Polish submarine escaped from Tallinn, in neutral Estonia, to the United Kingdom. The Stalinist Soviet Union used the incident as one of ...
, the Moscow press and radio started violently attacking Estonia as "hostile" to the Soviet Union. Moscow demanded that Estonia allow the USSR to establish military bases and station 25,000 troops on Estonian soil for the duration of the European war. The government of Estonia accepted the ultimatum signing the corresponding agreement on 28 September. 1939. The Pact was made for ten years: * Estonia granted the USSR the right to maintain naval bases and airdromes protected by
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
troops on the strategic islands dominating Tallinn, the
Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and E ...
and the
Gulf of Riga The Gulf of Riga, Bay of Riga, or Gulf of Livonia ( lv, Rīgas līcis, et, Liivi laht) is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. The island of Saaremaa (Estonia) partially separates it from the rest of the Baltic Sea. The main con ...
; * Soviet Union agreed to increase her annual trade turnover with Estonia and to give Estonia facilities in case the Baltic is closed to her goods for trading with the outside world via Soviet ports on the Black Sea and White Sea; * USSR and Estonia undertooke to defend each other from "aggression arising on the part of any great European power" * It was declared: the Pact "should not affect" the "economic systems and state organizations" of USSR and Estonia.


=Soviet annexation 1940

= On 12 June 1940 the order for total military blockade of Estonia was given to the Soviet
Baltic Fleet , image = Great emblem of the Baltic fleet.svg , image_size = 150 , caption = Baltic Fleet Great ensign , dates = 18 May 1703 – present , country = , allegiance = (1703–1721) (1721–1917) (1917–1922) (1922–1991)(1991–present) ...
On 14 June, the Soviet military blockade of Estonia took effect. Two Soviet bombers downed a Finnish passenger airplane
Kaleva Kaleva or Kalevi may refer to: * CWT Kaleva Travel, a travel management company based in Finland * Kalevi (mythology) Kaleva – also known as Kalevi or Kalev – and his sons are important heroic figures in Estonian, Finnish and Karelian mytho ...
flying from Tallinn to
Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
and carrying three diplomatic pouches from the U.S. legations in Tallinn,
Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
and Helsinki. On 16 June 1940, the Soviet Union invaded Estonia."Five Years of Dates"
at ''Time'' magazine on Monday, 24 June 1940
The Red Army exited from their military bases in Estonia, some 90,000 additional Soviet troops entered the country. Molotov had accused the Baltic states of conspiracy against the Soviet Union and delivered an ultimatum to Estonia for the establishment of a government the Soviets approve of. The Estonian government decided according to the Kellogg-Briand Pact not to use war as an instrument of national policy. Given the overwhelming Soviet force both on the borders and inside the country, not to resist, to avoid bloodshed and open war. On 17 June Estonia accepted the ultimatum and the statehood of Estonia de facto ceased to exist, the day France surrendered to Germany. The
military occupation Military occupation, also known as belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is the effective military control by a ruling power over a territory that is outside of that power's sovereign territory.Eyāl Benveniśtî. The international law ...
of the Republic of Estonia was complete by 21 June 1940 and rendered "official" by a communist coup d'état supported by the Soviet troops. Most of the
Estonian Defence Forces The Estonian Defence Forces ( et, Eesti Kaitsevägi) are the unified military forces of the Republic of Estonia. The Estonian Defence Forces consist of the Estonian Land Forces, the Estonian Navy, the Estonian Air Force, and the paramilitary E ...
and the
Estonian Defence League The Estonian Defence League ( et, Eesti Kaitseliit) is the name of the unified paramilitary armed forces of the Republic of Estonia. The Defence League is a paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, ...
surrendered according to the orders believing that resistance was useless and were disarmed by the Red Army. Only the Estonian Independent Signal Battalion stationed in Tallinn at Raua Street showed resistance. As the Red Army brought in additional reinforcements supported by six
armoured fighting vehicle An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked. Examples of AFVs are tanks, armoured car ...
s, the battle lasted several hours until sundown. There was one dead, several wounded on the Estonian side and about 10 killed and more wounded on the Soviet side. Finally the military resistance was ended with negotiations and the Single Signal Battalion surrendered and was disarmed. On the same day 21 June 1940 the
flag of Estonia The flag of Estonia ( et, Eesti lipp) is a tricolour featuring three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), black (middle), and white (bottom). In Estonian it is colloquially called the (). The tricolour was already in wide use as the symbol o ...
was replaced with a red flag on
Pikk Hermann Pikk Hermann or Tall Hermann (german: Langer Hermann) is a tower of the Toompea Castle, on Toompea hill in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The first part was built 1360–70. It was rebuilt (height brought to ) in the 16th century. A staircase ...
tower, the symbol of the government in Estonia in force. 14–15 July rigged "parliamentary elections" were held where all but pro-Communist candidates were outlawed. Those who failed to have their passports stamped for so voting were allowed to be shot in the back of the head.Justice in The Baltic
at ''Time'' magazine on Monday, 19 August 1940
Tribunals were set up to punish "traitors to the people." those who had fallen short of the "political duty" of voting Estonia into the USSR. The "parliament" so elected proclaimed Estonia a
Socialist Republic Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ec ...
on 21 July 1940 and unanimously requested Estonia to be "accepted" into the Soviet Union. Estonia was formally annexed into the Soviet Union on 6 August and renamed the
Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...
. The 1940 occupation and annexation of Estonia into the Soviet Union was considered illegal and never officially recognized by Great Britain, the United States, Canada, France and other capitalist democracies of the West.


=Soviet terror

= During the first year of Soviet occupation (1940–1941) over 8,000 people, including most of the country's leading politicians and military officers, were arrested. About 2,200 of the arrested were executed in Estonia, while most others were moved to prison camps in Russia, from where very few were later able to return alive. On 19 July 1940, the Commander-in-chief of the
Estonian Army The Estonian Land Forces ( et, Maavägi), unofficially referred to as the Estonian Army, is the name of the unified ground forces among the Estonian Defense Forces where it has an offensive military formation role. It is currently the largest ...
Johan Laidoner Johan Laidoner ( – 13 March 1953) was an Estonian general and statesman. He served as Commander‑in‑Chief of the Estonian Armed Forces during the 1918–1920 Estonian War of Independence and was among the most influential people in the Eston ...
was arrested by the
NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...
, and subsequently deported together with his wife to
Penza Penza ( rus, Пе́нза, p=ˈpʲɛnzə) is the largest city and administrative center of Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Sura River, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census, Penza had a population of 517,311, making it the 38th-l ...
, Russia. Laidoner died in captivity in a Soviet prison Camp in
Vladimir Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...
, Russia on 13 March 1953.
President of Estonia The president of the Republic of Estonia ( et, Eesti Vabariigi President) is the head of state of the Republic of Estonia. The current president is Alar Karis, elected by Parliament on 31 August 2021, replacing Kersti Kaljulaid. Estonia is ...
,
Konstantin Päts Konstantin Päts (; – 18 January 1956) was an Estonian statesman and the country's president in 1938–1940. Päts was one of the most influential politicians of the independent democratic Republic of Estonia, and during the two decades pri ...
was arrested and deported by the Soviets to
Ufa Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya and Ufa rivers, in the centre-north of Bashkortostan, on hills forming the ...
, Russia on 30 July 1940, he died in captivity in a psychiatric hospital in Kalinin (now
Tver Tver ( rus, Тверь, p=tvʲerʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is northwest of Moscow. Population: Tver was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in the Russian ...
) in Russia in 1956. 800 Estonian officers, about a half of the total, were executed or starved to death in Soviet prison camps. On 14 June 1941, when
June deportation The June deportation ( et, juuniküüditamine, lv, jūnija deportācijas, lt, birželio trėmimai) was a Population transfer in the Soviet Union, mass deportation by the Soviet Union of tens of thousands of people from the Soviet occupation of t ...
took place simultaneously in all three Baltic countries, about 10,000 Estonian civilians were deported to
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
and other remote areas of the Soviet Union, where nearly half of them later perished. Of the 32,100 Estonian men who were forcibly relocated to Russia under the pretext of mobilisation into the Red Army after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, nearly 40 percent died within the next year in the "
labour battalion Labour battalions have been a form of alternative service or unfree labour in various countries in lieu of or resembling regular military service. In some cases they were the result of some kind of discriminative segregation of the population, wh ...
s" through hunger, cold and overworking. During the first Soviet occupation of 1940–41 about 500 Jews were deported to
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
. When Estonia was proclaimed a Soviet republic, the crews of 42 Estonian ships in foreign waters refused to return to homeland (about 40% of Estonian pre-war fleet) These ships were brought into requisition by the British powers and were used in the Atlantic convoys. During the time of the war, approximately 1000 Estonian seamen served at the British militarised merchant marine, 200 of them as officers. A small number of Estonians served in the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
, in the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
and in the
US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
, altogether no more than two hundred.


=Soviet repressions against ethnic Russians

= Ethnic Russians in Estonia: Sergei Zarkevich, an activist of Russian organizations in Estonia, The owner of a book store "Russian Book": arrest order issued by NKVD on 23 June 1940, executed on 25 March 1941. Oleg Vasilovski, a former General in the
Russian Imperial Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...
. Arrest order issued by NKVD on 1 July 1940. Further fate unknown. Sergei Klenski, one of the former leaders of the Russian Farmers' Labour Party. Arrested on 22 July. On 19 November 1940, sentenced to 8 years in a prison camp. Further fate unknown. Mikhail Aleksandrov, Arseni Zhitkov. Other ethnic Russians in Estonia arrested and executed by different Soviet War Tribunals in 1940–1941. Ivan Salnikov, Pavel Mironov, Mihhail Arhipov, Vassili Belugin, Vladimir Strekoytov, Vasili Zhilin, Vladimir Utekhin, Sergei Samennikov, Ivan Meitsev, Ivan Yeremeyev, Konstatin Bushuyev, Yegor Andreyev, Nikolai Sausailov, Aleksandr Serpukhov, Konstatin Nosov, Aleksandr Nekrasov, Nikolai Vasilev-Muroman, Aleksei Sinelshikov, Pyotr Molonenkov, Grigory Varlamov, Stepan Pylnikov, Ivan Lishayev, Pavel Belousev, Nikolai Gusev, Leonid Sakharov, Aleksander Chuganov, Fyodor Dobrovidov, Lev Dobek, Andrei Leontev, Ivan Sokolov, Ivan Svetlov, Vladimir Semenov, Valentin Semenov-Vasilev, Vasili Kamelkov, Georgi Lokhov, Aleksei Forlov, Ivan Ivanov, Vasili Karamsin, Aleksandr Krasilnikov, Aleksandr Zhukov, etc. Full list at:


=Soviet occupation 1944–1991

= Soviet forces reconquered Estonia in the autumn of 1944 after fierce battles in the northeast of the country on the
Narva river The river Narva ( et, Narva jõgi; russian: Нарва), formerly also Narova flows north into the Baltic Sea and is the largest Estonian river by discharge. A similar length of land far to the south, together with it and a much longer interm ...
and on the Tannenberg Line (Sinimäed). In 1944, in the face of the country being re-occupied by the Red Army, 80,000 people fled from Estonia by sea to Finland and Sweden, becoming
war refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.
s and later,
expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...
s. 25,000 Estonians reached Sweden and a further 42,000 Germany. During the war about 8,000 Estonian Swedes and their family members had emigrated to Sweden. After the retreat of Germans, about 30,000 Estonian partisans remained in hiding in the Estonian forests, further on leading a massive guerrilla war. In 1949, 27,650 Soviet troops still led the war against the local partisans. Only the 1949 mass deportation when about 21,000 people were taken away broke the basis of the partisan movement. 6600 partisans gave themselves up in November 1949. Later on the failure of the Hungarian uprising broke the resistance morale of the 700 men still remaining under cover. According to the Soviet data, up to 1953, 20,351 partisans were disarmed. Of these, 1510 perished in the battles. During that period, 1,728 members of the Red Army, NKVD and the militia were killed by the "
forest brothers The Guerrilla war in the Baltic states was an armed struggle which was waged by the Latvian, Lithuanian, and Estonian partisans, called the Forest Brothers (also: the "Brothers of the Wood" and the "Forest Friars"; et, metsavennad, lv, mež ...
".
August Sabbe August Sabbe (1 September 1909 – 27 or 28 September 1978) was one of the last surviving Estonian members of the Forest Brothers, a group of citizens of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania who resisted and fought against the Soviet occupation of thei ...
, the last surviving ''Forest Brother'' in Estonia, was discovered and killed by KGB agents in 1978. During the first post-war decade of Soviet regime, Estonia was governed by Moscow via Russian-born Estonian governors. Born into the families of native Estonians in Russia, the latter had obtained their Red education in the Soviet Union during the Stalinist repressions at the end of the 1930s. Many of them had fought in the Red Army (in the Estonian Rifle Corps), few of them had mastered the Estonian language. Although the United States and the United Kingdom, the allies of the USSR against Germany during World War II, recognized the occupation of the Republic of Estonia by USSR at
Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...
in 1945 ''de facto'', the governments of the rest of the western democracies did not recognize the seizure of Estonia by the USSR in 1940 and in 1944
de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...
according to the
Sumner Welles Benjamin Sumner Welles (October 14, 1892September 24, 1961) was an American government official and diplomat in the Foreign Service. He was a major foreign policy adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and served as Under Secretary of State ...
' declaration of 23 July 1940; such countries recognized Estonian diplomats and consuls who still functioned in many countries in the name of their former governments. These ageing diplomats persisted in this anomalous situation until the ultimate restoration of Estonia's independence in 1991. On 23 February 1989 The red-blue waved flag of the Estonian SSR was lowered on
Pikk Hermann Pikk Hermann or Tall Hermann (german: Langer Hermann) is a tower of the Toompea Castle, on Toompea hill in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The first part was built 1360–70. It was rebuilt (height brought to ) in the 16th century. A staircase ...
. It was replaced with the blue-black-white flag of Estonia on 24 February 1989. The first freely elected parliament during the Soviet era in Estonia had passed independence resolutions on 8 May 1990, and renamed Estonian SSR to the Republic of Estonia. During the attempted coup on 20 August 1991 by the Gang of Eight, the Estonian parliament issued the Declaration of Independence from the Soviet Union at 23:03 Tallinn time. On 6 September 1991, the State Council of the Soviet Union recognized the independence of Estonia., immediately followed by the international recognitions of the Republic of Estonia. In 1992,
Heinrich Mark Heinrich Mark (1 October 1911 – 2 August 2004) was an Estonian politician and Prime Minister of the Estonian Government in Exile. He was Prime Minister in duties of the President of the Republic of Estonia from 1 March 1990 to 6 October 1992, ...
, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia in duties of the President in exile, presented his credentials to the newly elected President of Estonia
Lennart Meri Lennart Georg Meri (; 29 March 1929 – 14 March 2006) was an Estonian politician, writer, and film director. He served as the second president of Estonia from 1992 to 2001. Meri was among the leaders of the movement to restore Estonian independ ...
. The last Russian troops withdrew from Estonia in August 1994. Flag of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.svg, Flag of the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
(1954–1991) Flag of Estonian SSR.svg, Flag of the
Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...
(1953–1990)


Estonia and Russian Federation

Russian-Estonian relations were re-established in January 1991, when the presidents
Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
of
Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
and
Arnold Rüütel Arnold Rüütel OIH () (born 10 May 1928) is an Estonian politician and agricultural scientist. He has served as the last chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR from 8 April 1983 to 29 March 1990, Chairman of the Su ...
of Estonia met in Tallinn and signed a treaty governing the relations of the two countries after the anticipated independence of Estonia from the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. The treaty guaranteed the right to freely choose their citizenship for all residents of the former
Estonian SSR The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...
. Russia re-recognized the Republic of Estonia on 24 August 1991, after the failed
Soviet coup attempt The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, as one of the first countries to do so. Diplomatic relations were established on 24 October 1991. The Soviet Union recognized the independence of Estonia on 6 September. With the
dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
in December 1991, the
Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
became an independent country. Russia was widely accepted as the Soviet Union's
successor state Succession of states is a concept in international relations regarding a successor state that has become a sovereign state over a territory (and populace) that was previously under the sovereignty of another state. The theory has its roots in 19th- ...
in diplomatic affairsCountry Profile: Russia
Foreign & Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom
and it assumed the USSR's permanent membership and veto in the
UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...
; see ''
Russia's membership in the United Nations The Russian Federation succeeded to the Soviet Union's seat, including its permanent membership on the Security Council in the United Nations after the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, which originally co-founded the UN in 1945. The succ ...
''. Estonia's ties with Boris Yeltsin weakened since the Russian leader's initial show of solidarity with the Baltic states in January 1991. Issues surrounding the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Baltic republics and Estonia's denial of automatic citizenship to persons who settled in Estonia in 1941–1991 and their offspring ranked high on the list of points of contention. After the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
started, Estonia, as one of the EU countries, imposed sanctions on Russia, and Russia added all EU countries to the list of "unfriendly nations".


Withdrawal of Russian troops

Immediately after regaining the independence, Estonia started to insist that the Soviet Union (and later Russia) should withdraw their troops from Estonian territory and that the process should be completed by the end of the year. The Soviet government responded that withdrawal could not be completed before 1994 due to lack of available housing. In the fall of 1991 the Soviet Union claimed Estonia's new citizenship policy, still in the process of being developed, was a violation of human rights. Under the citizenship policy, most of the country's large (mainly
Russophone This article details the geographical distribution of Russian-speakers. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the status of the Russian language often became a matter of controversy. Some Post-Soviet states adopted policies of derussi ...
) minority of Soviet immigrants arriving between 1941 and 1991, as well as their offspring, were denied automatic citizenship. They could gain citizenship through a naturalisation process that included tests on Estonian and the constitution, as well as a long-time residency requirement. The Soviet government linked further withdrawal of troops from Estonia to a satisfactory change in Estonia's citizenship stance. In response, Estonia denied the accusations of violations of human rights and invited more than a dozen international fact-finding groups to visit the country for verification. In January 1992, some 25,000 Russian troops were reported left in Estonia, the smallest contingent in the Baltic states. Still, more than 800 square kilometres of land, including an inland artillery range, remained in the Russian military's hands. More than 150 battle tanks, 300 armored vehicles, and 163 military aircraft also remained. On 1 July 1993, angered by Estonia's Aliens Act, Russia's
Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet (russian: Верховный Совет, Verkhovny Sovet, Supreme Council) was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) ...
passed a resolution "on measures in connection with the violation of human rights on the territory of the Estonian Republic", calling for sanctions against Estonia, including a complete halt of the troop pullout. As the propaganda war and negotiations dragged on, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania gained international support for their position on troop withdrawal at a July 1992 summit of the
CSCE CSCE may refer to * China State Construction Engineering * Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange which merged to form the New York Board of Trade * Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe * Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe whic ...
in Helsinki. The final communiqué called on Russia to act "without delay... for the early, orderly and complete withdrawal" of foreign troops from the Baltic states. Resolutions also were passed in the United States Senate in 1992 and 1993 linking the issue of troop withdrawals to continued United States aid to Russia. Yet, Estonian and Russian negotiators remained deadlocked throughout 1993. At several points, President Yeltsin and other Russian officials called an official halt to the pullout, but the unofficial withdrawal of forces continued. By the end of 1992, about 16,000 troops remained. A year later, that number was down to fewer than 3,500, and more than half of the army bases had been turned over to Estonian defense officials. The Estonian and Russian sides continued to disagree, primarily over the pace of Russia's withdrawal from the town of
Paldiski Paldiski is a town and Baltic Sea port situated on the Pakri Peninsula of northwestern Estonia. Since 2017, it's the administrative centre of Lääne-Harju Parish of Harju County. Previously a village of Estonia-Swedes known by the historical ...
, on the northern coast some thirty-five kilometers west of Tallinn. The Soviet navy had built a submarine base there that included two nuclear submarine training reactors. Russian officials maintained that dismantling the reactor facility would take time; Estonia demanded faster action along with international supervision of the process. It was not until 31 August 1994 that the last Russian troops left Estonia, as Presidents Boris Yeltsin and
Lennart Meri Lennart Georg Meri (; 29 March 1929 – 14 March 2006) was an Estonian politician, writer, and film director. He served as the second president of Estonia from 1992 to 2001. Meri was among the leaders of the movement to restore Estonian independ ...
had signed an agreement on 26 July 1994 for the complete withdrawal of Russian troops. The last Russian warship, carrying ten T-72 tanks, departed in August 1994. However, Russia was to retain control of the reactor facility in Paldiski until September 1995. On 30 September 1995 the decommissioning of the Paldiski nuclear base was completed.


Controversies

During
Perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...
, the reassessment era of Soviet history in USSR, in 1989 the USSR condemned the 1939 secret protocol between Nazi Germany and itself that had led to the invasion and occupation of the three Baltic countries. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to the restoration of the Republic of Estonia's sovereignty ''(See History of Estonia: Regaining independence.)'' According to the
Government of Estonia The Government of the Republic of Estonia (''Estonian language, Estonian: Vabariigi Valitsus'') is the cabinet (government), cabinet of Estonia. Under the Constitution of Estonia, Constitution, it exercises executive power pursuant to the Constit ...
, the
European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
, EU, USA Estonia remained occupied by the Soviet Union until restoration of its independence in 1991 and the 48 years of Soviet occupation and annexation was never recognized as legal by the Western democracies.
Russian government The Government of Russia exercises executive power in the Russian Federation. The members of the government are the prime minister, the deputy prime ministers, and the federal ministers. It has its legal basis in the Constitution of the Russia ...
and officials continue to maintain that the Soviet annexation of the
Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
was legitimate and that the Soviet Union liberated the countries from the Nazis They state that the Soviet troops had entered the Baltic countries in 1940 following the agreements and with the consent of the governments of the Baltic republics. They maintain that the USSR was not in a state of war and was not waging any combat activities on the territory of the three Baltic states, therefore, the argument goes, the word 'occupation' can not be used. "The assertions about he'occupation' by the Soviet Union and the related claims ignore all legal, historical and political realities, and are therefore utterly groundless." (Russian Foreign Ministry) However the fact was that consent was coerced after Soviet troops were massed on the border. The Soviet 8th army was dispatched to Pskov on 14 September 1939, and the mobilized 7th army placed under the Leningrad Military District. On 26 September, the Leningrad Military District was ordered to "start concentrating troops on the Estonian-Latvian border and to finish that operation on 29 September." The order noted, "for the time of starting the attack a separate directive will be issued." Altogether, by the beginning of October 1939, the Soviets had amassed along the Estonia-Latvia border: * 437,325 troops * 3,635 artillery pieces * 3,052 tanks * 421 armored vehicles * 21,919 cars According to the American author
Thomas Ambrosio Thomas Ambrosio (born May 31, 1971) is a professor of political science in the Criminal Justice and Political Science Department at North Dakota State University. He teaches courses in international relations and international law. Career Ambros ...
, the core of the current controversies lay in the Kremlin's rhetorical response to external criticisms of Russia's own democratic and human rights record, where Moscow's harsh denunciations of Estonia which are far disproportionate to Tallinn's actual policies, are intended to put the West on the defensive rather than describe the realities within Estonia Russia has made three general claims based upon exaggeration or outright misrepresentation as a part of their "accuse" strategy: the human rights of the Russian-speakers were being violated; Estonia has a "democratic deficit" because it did not allow non-citizens to vote in national elections; and that rejecting the legitimacy of the
Soviet occupation During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into two different ...
was equivalent to glorifying Nazism.


=Language and citizenship issues

= During the Soviet period the share of
Russophone This article details the geographical distribution of Russian-speakers. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the status of the Russian language often became a matter of controversy. Some Post-Soviet states adopted policies of derussi ...
s in Estonia increased from less than a tenth to over a third, and to almost half in the capital
Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
, and even to a majority in some districts in North East Estonia. ''(See
Demographics of Estonia The demographics of Estonia in the 21st century result from historical trends over more than a thousand years, as with most European countries, but have been disproportionately influenced by events in the second half of the 20th century. The Sovie ...
and Estonian SSR: Demographic changes.)'' In contrast to the long-standing pre-World War II Russian minority in Estonia, these were Soviet economic migrants. Russian was an official language in parallel to, and in practice often instead of, Estonian in
Estonian SSR The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...
and there were no integration efforts during the Soviet time, resulting in considerable groups of people knowing very little or no Estonian. After Estonia re-established independence, Estonian again became the only
official language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...
. The mass deportations of ethnic Estonians during the Soviet era together with migration into Estonia from other parts of the Soviet Union resulted in the share of ethnic Estonians in the country decreasing from 88% in 1934 to 62% in 1989.Background Note: Estonia
AT U.S Department of State
''(See
Demographics of Estonia The demographics of Estonia in the 21st century result from historical trends over more than a thousand years, as with most European countries, but have been disproportionately influenced by events in the second half of the 20th century. The Sovie ...
.)'' In 1992, the Citizenship Act of the Republic of Estonia was reinstated according to the pre-Soviet invasion status quo in 1940. Throughout the years of
occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...
(the major democracies of the world never accepted the forcible incorporation of the
Baltic States The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
by the USSR in 1940), the pre-Soviet invasion Estonian citizens and their descendants never lost their citizenship, regardless of their ethnic origin, be it Estonian, Russian (8.2% of the citizenry by the 1934 census), German or any other, according to the ''
jus sanguinis ( , , ; 'right of blood') is a principle of nationality law by which citizenship is determined or acquired by the nationality or ethnicity of one or both parents. Children at birth may be citizens of a particular state if either or both of t ...
'' principle. Conditions for acquiring and receiving Estonian citizenship for post-1940 settlers and their descendants in Estonia are an examination in knowledge of the
Estonian language Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language, written in the Latin script. It is the official language of Estonia and one of the official languages of the European Union, spoken natively by about 1.1 million people; 922,000 people in Estonia and 160,0 ...
and an examination in knowledge of the
Constitution of Estonia Constitution of Estonia is the fundamental law of the Republic of Estonia and establishes the state order as that of a democratic republic where the supreme power is vested in its citizens. The first Constitution was adopted by the freely elect ...
and the Law. Applicants for Estonian citizenship who were born prior to 1 January 1930, or hearing or speech disabled, permanently disabled, et cetera, are exempt from the requirements. Currently about a third of Estonia's
Russophone This article details the geographical distribution of Russian-speakers. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the status of the Russian language often became a matter of controversy. Some Post-Soviet states adopted policies of derussi ...
s are Estonian citizens, another third have Russian citizenship. At the same time in 2006 around 9% of Estonia's residents were of
undefined citizenship Estonian citizenship law details the conditions by which a person is a citizen of Estonia. The primary law currently governing these requirements is the Citizenship Act, which came into force on 1 April 1995. Estonia is a member state of the ...
. While there have been calls for the return of all Estonia's Russians to Russia, the
Government of Estonia The Government of the Republic of Estonia (''Estonian language, Estonian: Vabariigi Valitsus'') is the cabinet (government), cabinet of Estonia. Under the Constitution of Estonia, Constitution, it exercises executive power pursuant to the Constit ...
has been adopting an integration policy, advocating an idea that Estonia's residents should possess at least a basic knowledge of the
Estonian language Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language, written in the Latin script. It is the official language of Estonia and one of the official languages of the European Union, spoken natively by about 1.1 million people; 922,000 people in Estonia and 160,0 ...
. People who arrived in the country after 1940 qualify for naturalization if they have general knowledge of Estonian language and the Constitution, have legally resided in Estonia for at least eight years, the last five of them permanently, have a registered place of residence in Estonia and a permanent legal income. Russia has repeatedly condemned Estonian citizenship laws and demanded that Estonia grant its citizenship without (or by a greatly simplified) naturalization procedure. The perceived difficulty of the language tests necessary for naturalisation has been one of the controversial issues. In February 2002, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeni Gussarov presented to Estonian ambassador
Karin Jaani Karin Jaani (27 August 1952, Ahja – 7 October 2009) was an Estonian diplomat and politician. She was a member of VIII Riigikogu. From 2001 until 2005, she was the Ambassador of Estonia to Russian Federation. References

{{DEFAULTSORT:J ...
a non-paper list of seven demands to be fulfilled by Estonia in order to improve the relations of the two countries. These demands included making Russian an official language in the regions where the russophone minority was actually a majority, granting citizenship by naturalization to at least 20,000 residents annually, stopping prosecuting the persons who had been involved in the deportation of Estonians, officially registering the Russian Orthodox Church, providing secondary and higher education in Russian language.


=Accusations of belittlement and glorification of fascism

= There have been various allegations of Neo-fascism (i.e.,
Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
in Soviet
speech Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses Phonetics, phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if ...
), glorification of Nazism and Estonia's collaboration with Germans in World War II, resurrection of
Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
and being pro-Nazi against Estonia by official spokesmen and Jewish religious leaders of Russia, as well as by international spokesmen and associations, including René van der Linden and
Efraim Zuroff Efraim Zuroff ( he, אפרים זורוף; born August 5, 1948) is an American-born Israeli historian and Nazi hunter who has played a key role in bringing indicted Nazi and fascist war criminals to trial. Zuroff, the director of the Simon Wiese ...
.Об участии эстонского легиона СС в военных преступлениях в 1941–1945 гг. и попытках пересмотра в Эстонии приговора Нюрнбергского трибунала
According to Economist: What really annoys the Kremlin is that Estonians regarded the arrival of the Red Army in 1944–45 as the exchange of one ghastly occupation for another instead of a liberation. The Estonian Education Minister Tõnis Lukas has said "We do not glorify the Nazis in any way, but Moscow seems very upset that Estonia considers the Nazi era and Stalinism as equally evil and criminal regimes." A controversial
monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...
had been erected by a private group in the seaside town of
Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet o ...
in 2002. It honoured Estonian soldiers who fought the Red Army during World War II and was reported as "SS monument" by some news agencies, including BBC. The Monument hadn't been formally unveiled and had been taken down shortly afterward amid criticisms of the international community. In 2004 the same
monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...
was re-erected in the town of
Lihula Lihula is a town in Lääneranna Parish, Pärnu County, Estonia. Lihula castle The castle of Lihula (german: Leal) was first mentioned in 1211, but it appears the site was used as a fortress since the Iron Age. In 1220, a Swedish army starte ...
, however it was removed by the Estonian government after 9 days amid violent protests from some monument supporters. The monument depicts an Estonian soldier in a German-type military uniform, and according to a journalist of the Baltic Times, with a Waffen-SS (combat SS) unit emblem. However a semiotic analysis by professor
Peeter Torop Peeter Torop (born November 28, 1950, in Tallinn, Estonia) is an Estonian semiotician. Following Roman Jakobson, he expanded the scope of the semiotic study of translation to include intratextual, intertextual, and extratextual translation and st ...
of
University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...
, consulting for the Lihula police department, concluded that no Nazi or SS symbolics whatsoever appear in the bas-relief.Postimees 14 September 2004
Semiootikaprofessor Toropi hinnangul ei ole Lihula sammas natslik
There are legitimate organizations representing Waffen SS veterans in Estonia, and former Waffen SS soldiers are paid pensions by the German government. While the
Nuremberg Trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945 ...
condemned the Waffen-SS as part of a criminal organisation, conscripts were exempted from that judgment due to being involuntarily mobilized. Conscripting natives of occupied territory is considered a war crime under the
Geneva Convention upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conven ...
. The 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) is an example of such a conscript formation, the units cannot be accused of committing crimes against humanity. According to ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'': "Many Russians have accused countries once under the Kremlin’s sway, including Estonia, of not pursuing a full account of some of their citizens' collaborations with the Nazis." Martin Arpo, superintendent of Security Police Board disagrees with this Russian view, saying "Both regimes were criminal and committed criminal acts and brought suffering to the Estonian people. But the local K.G.B. couldn’t find any more evidence against the Nazi collaborators. We haven’t found it either. And the K.G.B. was a much larger organization than we are and had powers and methods, shall we say, that are not available to a Western democratic country."


=Accusations of human rights violations

= The
Government of Russia The Government of Russia exercises executive power in the Russian Federation. The members of the government are the prime minister, the deputy prime ministers, and the federal ministers. It has its legal basis in the Constitution of the Russia ...
, claimed (in 2005) that "there is discrimination against the Russian-speaking minority (not only ethnic Russians but also Russian-speaking Ukrainians, Belarusians and Jews)." The Federal Migration Service of Russia has supported a law that would set a language test for anyone planning to work in Russia for more than one year. "It is obvious that without knowledge of the Russian language it is impossible to integrate into Russian society," the Russian Migration Service has said. The Russian law applies to new immigrants. With the restoration of Estonian independence in 1991 the Citizenship Law of 1938, based on the principle of
jus sanguinis ( , , ; 'right of blood') is a principle of nationality law by which citizenship is determined or acquired by the nationality or ethnicity of one or both parents. Children at birth may be citizens of a particular state if either or both of t ...
, came into force. Consequently, all Soviet immigrants who had moved into
Estonian SSR The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...
, when Estonia was under Soviet occupation in 1940–1941 and 1944–1991, as well as to their descendants born before 1992 found themselves with neither Estonian nor Russian citizenship. Non-citizen parents can request expedited citizenship for their children born after 1992 if they have been residents of Estonia for five years. Continuity of citizenship applied automatically to Russophones who were citizens or descendants of citizens of Republic of Estonia prior 1940. The
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...
(OSCE) and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities have declared that they cannot find a pattern of human rights violations or abuses in Estonia. However, the
European Centre for Minority Issues The European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) is a research institute based in Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt ...
has also criticised what is sees as Estonia's harsh treatment of its Russian population, and has condemned the ostensible lack of legal protection offered to minorities. The forum Development and Transition, which is sponsored by the United Nations, published an article in its newsletter in November 2005 where Professor James Hughes argues that Latvia and Estonia employ a "sophisticated and extensive policy regime of discrimination" against their respective
Russophone This article details the geographical distribution of Russian-speakers. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the status of the Russian language often became a matter of controversy. Some Post-Soviet states adopted policies of derussi ...
parts of the population. However, in that same newsletter Professor Hughes arguments were opposed by former Latvian minister for social integration Dr. Nils Muiznieks who argued his views were simplistic and "similar to what Russian propaganda has been touting in international fora over the last 10 years". Although the OSCE and other international organizations, such as the Finnish Helsinki Committee, have found the Citizenship Law to be satisfactory, the Russian Government and members of the local ethnic Russian community continued to criticize it as discriminatory, notably for its Estonian language requirements. In September 2003, a visiting NATO Parliamentary Assembly delegation concluded that the country had no major problems in treatment of its Russian minority. Dr. Kara Brown has claimed in her 1997 report at
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...
newsletter that "the Russian government, disregarding the fact that Estonia's Russian speakers willingly have chosen to stay n Estonia has used the excuse of alleged minority-right infringements as justification for a possible armed invasion." She suggested that, once in Estonia, these Russian troops would 'secure' the rights of these Russian-speakers who live outside of their homeland. According to K. Brown this vow of 'support' only aggravates attempts being made by the Russian speakers to solve their political problems independently and jeopardizes the development of healthy foreign relations between Estonia and Russia. However, this "Russian Plan for Invasion of the Baltic States," (as published in ''The Baltic Independent'' in 1995), had never been implemented, nor its authenticity had been confirmed by the independent sources. Estonian media have repeatedly claimed that Russian politicians called for military action against Estonia to protect the "compatriots", most recently this accusation had been fielded against
Dmitry Rogozin Dmitry Olegovich Rogozin (russian: link=no, Дми́трий Оле́гович Рого́зин; born 21 December 1963) is a Russian politician who served as director general of Roscosmos from 2018 to July 2022. He previously served as deputy p ...
during the
Bronze Soldier The Bronze Soldier ( et, Pronkssõdur, russian: Бронзовый солдат, ''Bronzovyj soldat'') is the informal name of a controversial Soviet World War II war memorial in Tallinn, Estonia, built at the site of several war graves, which w ...
crisis. In 2005, the Estonian Prime Minister
Juhan Parts Juhan Parts (born 27 August 1966) is an Estonian politician who was Prime Minister of Estonia from 2003 to 2005 and Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications from 2007 to 2014. Juhan Parts is a member of Isamaa party. Education Born in Ta ...
expressed concerns about alleged Russian violations of human and cultural rights of the
Mari people The Mari ( chm, мари; russian: марийцы, mariytsy) are a Finnic people, who have traditionally lived along the Volga and Kama rivers in Russia. Almost half of Maris today live in the Mari El republic, with significant populations in the ...
, who are ethnically related to the
Estonian people Estonians or Estonian people ( et, eestlased) are a Finnic ethnic group native to Estonia who speak the Estonian language. The Estonian language is spoken as the first language by the vast majority of Estonians; it is closely related to othe ...
. Estonian Institute of Human Rights claims Russia persecutes Mari journalists and oppositions leaders. Several journalists have been killed while in the cultural sphere TV and radio programmes in Mari language in the autonomous Republic of
Mari El The Mari El Republic (russian: Респу́блика Мари́й Эл, ''Respublika Mariy El''; Meadow Mari: ; Hill Mari: ) is a republic of Russia. It is in the European Russia region of the country, along the northern bank of the Volga Rive ...
are restricted to a minimum of a brief news segment on the TV and Mari language radio broadcasting has been severely curtailed as well. The EU subsequently passed a resolution strongly condemning the violations of human rights by the Russian authorities in Mari El.


Other issues


=Orthodox Church controversy

= A legal dispute went on between the Tallinn and Moscow governments since 1993, when the Estonian government re-registered the Estonian Orthodox Church under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical (Constantinople) Patriarchate. This made it impossible to register the
Estonian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate The Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (EOC-MP; et, Moskva Patriarhaadi Eesti Õigeusu Kirik; russian: Эстонская православная церковь Московского патриархата) is a semi-autonom ...
, which had collaborated with the Soviet occupation. The main issue was, which of the two owned the property of the Orthodox church in Estonia, held by the Moscow Patriarchate until 1923, then by the Church under the Ecumenical Patriarchate until the Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1940, and consequently handed to the Moscow Patriarchate by the Soviet government. Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate was registered in Estonia in April 2002.


=Territorial issues

= After the
dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
Estonia had hoped for the return of more than 2,000 square kilometers of territory annexed to Russia after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in 1945. The annexed land had been within the borders Estonia approved by Russia in the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty. However, the
Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
government disavowed any responsibility for acts committed by the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. After signing the border treaty by the corresponding foreign minister in 2005, it was ratified by the Estonian government and President. The Russian side interpreted the preamble as giving Estonia a possibility for future territorial claim, and
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
notified Estonia that Russia will not consider these. Negotiations were reopened in 2012 and the Treaty was signed in February 2014. Ratification is still pending.


=Russia's attitude to Estonian accession to the NATO and the EU

= When the Baltic states restored their independence in 1991 they demanded withdrawal of the Russian troops from their territory, where USSR has built various military installations. Later in the 1990s the Baltic states refused Russia's proposals of security guaranties in favor of NATO alliance. NATO, particularly its expansion, is considered a threat in Russia.


=Bronze Soldier of Tallinn controversy

= The relocation of the
Bronze Soldier of Tallinn The Bronze Soldier ( et, Pronkssõdur, russian: Бронзовый солдат, ''Bronzovyj soldat'') is the informal name of a controversial Soviet World War II war memorial in Tallinn, Estonia, built at the site of several war graves, whi ...
and exhumation of the bodies buried from a square in the center of Tallinn to a military cemetery in April 2007 provoked a harsh Russian reaction. The
Federation Council The Federation Council (russian: Сове́т Федера́ции – ''Soviet Federatsii'', common abbreviation: Совфед – ''Sovfed''), or Senate (officially, starting from July 1, 2020) ( ru , Сенат , translit = Senat), is th ...
, on 27 April, approved a statement concerning the monument, which urges the Russian authorities to take the "toughest possible measures" against Estonia. First Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov said that adequate measures, primarily, economic ones, should be taken against Estonia. Belittling the World War II heroes' feats and desecrating monuments erected in their memory leads to discord and mistrust between countries and peoples, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Victory Day 2007. In the days following the relocation, the
Embassy of Estonia in Moscow Embassy of Estonia in Moscow (russian: Посольство Эстонии в Москве, et, Eesti Suursaatkond Moskvas) is the chief diplomatic mission of Estonia in the Russian Federation. It is located at 5 Maly Kislovsky Lane (russian: М ...
was besieged by protesters, including pro-Kremlin youth organisations '' Nashi'' and the
Young Guard of United Russia The Young Guard of United Russia (russian: Молодая гвардия Единой России, Molodaya gvardiya Yedinoy Rossii; MGER) is the youth wing of the United Russia party. Founded in 2005, it uses the name of the famous Young Gua ...
. Estonia's president
Toomas Hendrik Ilves Toomas Hendrik Ilves (; born 26 December 1953) is an Estonian politician who served as the fourth president of Estonia from 2006 until 2016. Ilves worked as a diplomat and journalist, and he was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the ...
expressed his astonishment that Russia has — despite the promises of foreign minister Lavrov — not taken actions to protect the diplomatic personnel. On 2 May, a small group of protesters attempted to disrupt a press conference the Estonian ambassador to Russia,
Marina Kaljurand Marina Kaljurand (née Rajevskaja; born 6 September 1962) is an Estonian politician and Member of the European Parliament. Kaljurand served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in Taavi Rõivas' second cabinet as an independent. Earlier, she served as ...
was holding at the offices of the Moscow newspaper, Argumenty i Fakty, but were held back by security guards. The
Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (MFA Russia; russian: Министерство иностранных дел Российской Федерации, МИД РФ) is the central government institution charged with lea ...
reported that the Ambassador confirmed to them that her bodyguard used
pepper spray Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, or capsicum spray is a lachrymatory agent (a compound that irritates the eyes to cause a burning sensation, pain, and temporary blindness) used in policing, riot control, cr ...
against the protesters. Estonian foreign minister
Urmas Paet Urmas Paet (born 20 April 1974) is an Estonian politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Estonia. He is a member of the Reform Party, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. He has served as Minister of Fore ...
suggested to consider calling off the upcoming EU-Russia Summit that was due to take place on 18 May.


=Railway works

= On 3 May 2007, Russia announced plans for repairs to railway lines to Estonia, disrupting oil and coal exports to Estonian ports. In July Russian
Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government agen ...
Igor Levitin Igor Yevgenyevich Levitin (russian: Игорь Евгеньевич Левитин) (born 21 February 1952) is a Russian political figure, Aide to the President of the Russian Federation since September 2013, and Class 1 Active State Advisor of th ...
announced that Russia was planning to stop all oil transit through Estonian ports and use Russian ports instead.


=Cyberattacks on Estonia

= A series of
distributed denial of service In computing, a denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) is a cyber-attack in which the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a host connect ...
cyber attacks began on 27 April 2007 that swamped websites of Estonian organizations, including Estonian parliament,
banks A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becaus ...
, ministries, newspapers and broadcasters, amid the Estonian-Russian row about the
Bronze Soldier of Tallinn The Bronze Soldier ( et, Pronkssõdur, russian: Бронзовый солдат, ''Bronzovyj soldat'') is the informal name of a controversial Soviet World War II war memorial in Tallinn, Estonia, built at the site of several war graves, whi ...
relocation. Estonian officials accused Russia of unleashing cyberwar.


=Exhibition dedicated to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army

= An exhibition dedicated to the
Ukrainian Insurgent Army The Ukrainian Insurgent Army ( uk, Українська повстанська армія, УПА, translit=Ukrayins'ka povstans'ka armiia, abbreviated UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist paramilitary and later partisan formation. During World ...
opened in Tallinn in October 2009 was heavily criticised by Russian embassy in Estonia. "The UPA acted like war criminals and not as fighters for freedom as they are being portrayed in retrospect. We spoke of our negative view on the exhibition opened by the Estonian Foreign Ministry and voiced our reasons", Russian Embassy
Press Attache Press may refer to: Media * Print media or news media, commonly called "the press" * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press (newspaper), a list of newspapers * Press TV, an Iranian television network People * Press (surname), a famil ...
Maria Shustitskaya told
Estonian television Eesti Televisioon (ETV) ( en, Estonian Television) is an Estonian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Estonian Public Broadcasting. It made its first broadcast on 19 July 1955. History Eesti Televisioon (''Estonian Televis ...
.


Meetings

The first meeting between Estonian and Russian leaders was between
Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
and
Lennart Meri Lennart Georg Meri (; 29 March 1929 – 14 March 2006) was an Estonian politician, writer, and film director. He served as the second president of Estonia from 1992 to 2001. Meri was among the leaders of the movement to restore Estonian independ ...
.
Russian President The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...
and
Estonian President The president of the Republic of Estonia ( et, Eesti Vabariigi President) is the head of state of the Republic of Estonia. The current president is Alar Karis, elected by Parliament on 31 August 2021, replacing Kersti Kaljulaid. Estonia is ...
Toomas Hendrik Ilves Toomas Hendrik Ilves (; born 26 December 1953) is an Estonian politician who served as the fourth president of Estonia from 2006 until 2016. Ilves worked as a diplomat and journalist, and he was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the ...
met in
Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk ( rus, Ха́нты-Манси́йск, Khánty-Mansíysk, lit. ''Khanty-Mansi Town''; Khanty language, Khanty: , ''Jomvoćś''; Mansi language, Mansi: , ''Abga'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the admini ...
in June 2008 at the 5th World Congress of
Finno-Ugric Peoples The Finno-Ugric countries are the three independent nation states with a national majority that speaks a Finno-Ugric language: Finland and Estonia, which are inhabited by Baltic Finnic peoples, and Hungary, which is majority Magyar. The three count ...
, marking the first formal meeting between leaders of the two states in fourteen years. Putin briefly spoke with President
Arnold Rüütel Arnold Rüütel OIH () (born 10 May 1928) is an Estonian politician and agricultural scientist. He has served as the last chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR from 8 April 1983 to 29 March 1990, Chairman of the Su ...
in 2005 with
Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow Patriarch Alexy II (or Alexius II, russian: link=no, Патриарх Алексий II; secular name Aleksei Mikhailovich Ridiger russian: link=no, Алексе́й Миха́йлович Ри́дигер; 23 February 1929 – 5 December ...
(a native of Tallinn himself). On the meeting between the two presidents, Sergey Prikhodko, Aide to the Russian President, stated that "(t)here have been much warmer meetings. During the meeting, Ilves stated that rhetoric from both countries should be toned down, with Medvedev responding by saying that the Estonian President often made harsh statements against Russia, whereas he did not do the same about Estonia." In his speech at the Congress, Ilves states "Freedom and democracy were our choice 150 years ago. Even poets didn’t dream about state independence at that time. Many Finno-Ugric peoples haven’t made their choice yet". This led Russian representatives to believe that Ilves was calling for the breakup of the Russian state.
Konstantin Kosachev Konstantin Iosifovich Kosachev (russian: Константин Иосифович Косачев; born 17 September 1962) is a Soviet and Russian politician and former diplomat. He is a senator at the Federation Council (Russian parliament's upper ...
, the Chairman of the International Affairs Committee in the
State Duma The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house ...
, in response stated that Estonia and the European Parliament had demanded investigations into the 2005 attacks on a Mari activist, and had used the attack as evidence of discrimination of the Mari people in Russia, yet ignored calls for investigations on attacks on ethnic Russians, which included the murder of one, in the wake of the
Bronze Soldier The Bronze Soldier ( et, Pronkssõdur, russian: Бронзовый солдат, ''Bronzovyj soldat'') is the informal name of a controversial Soviet World War II war memorial in Tallinn, Estonia, built at the site of several war graves, which w ...
controversy. Kosachev's speech led Ilves and the rest of the Estonian delegation to leave the conference hall in protest. Ilves later stated that "to read into the speech anything requires a hyperactive and distorted imagination". On 18 April 2019, Estonian President
Kersti Kaljulaid Kersti Kaljulaid (; born 30 December 1969) is an Estonian politician who served as the fifth president of Estonia between 2016 and 2021. She was also the first and only female head of state of Estonia since the country declared independence in ...
visited
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
in an official state visit, the first by an Estonian leader since 2011. In her meetings with President
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
, she invited him to visit
Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...
for the 2020 World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples. During the visit, she attended the re-opening of the Estonian Embassy in Moscow. The meeting was arranged by Kaljulaid Putin when the two spoke briefly at the
Armistice Day Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark Armistice of 11 November 1918, the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I a ...
commemorations in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
the previous November.


Abduction of Estonian security official

On 5 September 2014
Estonian Internal Security Service The Estonian Internal Security Service ( et, Kaitsepolitsei, officially et, Kaitsepolitseiamet, KaPo for short) is a central national security institution of Republic of Estonia. Its purposes are centered on enforcing constitutional order. Th ...
official
Eston Kohver Eston Kohver (born 1971) is an Estonian officer of the Estonian Internal Security Service who was detained by the Russian Federal Security Service, FSB on 5 September 2014 under disputed circumstances, creating a major political rift in Estonia– ...
was abducted at gunpoint from the border near the
Luhamaa Luhamaa is a small area in Setomaa Parish, Võru County in southeastern Estonia, on the Russian border. The Luhamaa border crossing is located on the European route E77 (road from Pskov to Riga). The official Luhamaa village was abolished in ...
border checkpoint by Russian forces and taken to Russia. The abduction was preceded by jamming of Estonian communications and the use of a smoke grenade. Estonia also found evidence that a struggle had taken place. President
Toomas Hendrik Ilves Toomas Hendrik Ilves (; born 26 December 1953) is an Estonian politician who served as the fourth president of Estonia from 2006 until 2016. Ilves worked as a diplomat and journalist, and he was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the ...
called the incident "unacceptable and deplorable". The incident occurred during the ongoing
invasion of Ukraine The territory of present-day Ukraine has been Invasion, invaded or Military occupation, occupied a number of times throughout History of Ukraine, its history. List See also *List of invasions *List of wars involving Ukraine References

...
and following a visit to Estonia by US President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
. Russia admitted that they have detained Kohver, but claimed that he was in Russian territory at the time he was taken. In August 2015 he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. On 26 September 2015, an exchange deal between Russian and Estonian governments was made: Kohver was handed over to Estonia for convicted Russian spy
Aleksei Dressen Aleksei Dressen (born 1968 in Riga) is a former Estonian Internal Security Service officer convicted for treason. He was convicted with cooperating with Russian intelligence service FSB. He is an ethnic Volga German. Biography During Soviet rul ...
.


Effects of the Russo-Ukrainian War

From 1940 until 1991, Estonia was under Soviet occupation, during which a large number of ethnic Russians migrated to the republic. The
2014 Russian annexation of Crimea In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The events in Kyiv th ...
and the
Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatist forces in Donbas, Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since Feb ...
have left many Estonians nervous that Russia might also attempt to reoccupy Estonia or annex parts of the country. Because of this, Estonia has responded to Russia with frequent large-scale national and volunteer military exercises along the Russia-Estonia border. Additionally, Estonian government officials have called upon NATO, who has pledged their support for Estonia in the effect of Russian encroachment, by sending individuals to take place in the military exercises along the border. In September 2022,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
,
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
,
Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
, and
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
have decided to close entry for Russian citizens with
Schengen The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...
visas, including those issued by third countries. On 18 October 2022, the Estonian parliament voted in favour of officially recognizing Russia as a terrorist state. The
Riigikogu The Riigikogu (; from Estonian ''riigi-'', of the state, and ''kogu'', assembly) is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the Prime Minister and Chief Jus ...
also called on the international community to adopt a similar position. In January 2023, Estonian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mihkel Tamm announced Estonia's intention to seize $21.4 million in Russian assets in Estonia and deliver it to Ukraine. Estonia is working with European Commission on plans to seize Russian assets frozen in the European Union which are estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Estonia also announced the expulsion of 21 Russian diplomats and technical staff and encouraged other European Union countries to follow suit. In January 2023, Russia responded by downgrading its relations with Estonia and expelling the Estonian ambassador.


Public opinion

According to
Levada Center The Levada Center is a Russian independent, nongovernmental polling and sociological research organization. It is named after its founder, the first Russian professor of sociology Yuri Levada (1930–2006). The center traces back its history to ...
Russian research institute, in 2007, Estonia was considered an enemy of Russia by 60 percent of Russia's citizens (cf. 28% in 2006, 32% in 2005), more than any other country in the world, followed by
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
, Latvia and United States.А. Голов
Дружественные и недружественные страны для россиян
. 30 May 2007.
See als

. 21 May 2007.
The poll was conducted two weeks after the
Bronze Soldier The Bronze Soldier ( et, Pronkssõdur, russian: Бронзовый солдат, ''Bronzovyj soldat'') is the informal name of a controversial Soviet World War II war memorial in Tallinn, Estonia, built at the site of several war graves, which w ...
relocation to a military cemetery and exhumation of the bodies buried there and the
Bronze Night The Bronze Night ( et, Pronksiöö), also known as the April Unrest (') and April Events ('), refers to the riots in Estonia surrounding the controversial 2007 relocation of the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn, a Soviet World War II memorial in Talli ...
riots.


See also

*
History of Russians in Estonia In Estonia, the population of ethnic Russians is estimated at 315,000, most of whom live in the capital city Tallinn and other urban areas of Harju and Ida-Viru counties. While a small settlement of Russian Old Believers on the coast of Lak ...
*
Foreign relations of Estonia The Republic of Estonia gained its independence from the Russian Empire on 24 February 1918 and established diplomatic relations with many countries via membership of the League of Nations. The forcible incorporation of Estonia into the Soviet Un ...
*
Russian influence operations in Estonia According to the Estonian Internal Security Service, Russian influence operations in Estonia form a complex system of financial, political, economic and espionage activities in Republic of Estonia for the purposes of influencing Estonia's politic ...
*
Estonia–Russia border The Estonia–Russia border is the international border between the Republic of Estonia ( EU and NATO member) and the Russian Federation ( CIS member). The border is long. It emerged during World War I, in 1918, as Estonia declared its inde ...
*
List of ambassadors of Russia to Estonia The Ambassador of Russia to Estonia is the official representative of the President and the Government of the Russian Federation to the President and the Government of Estonia. The ambassador and his staff work at large in the Russian embassy in ...
*
Russia–European Union relations Russian–European Union relations are the international relations between the European Union (EU) and Russia. Russia borders five EU member states: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland; the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad is surrounded ...
* Estonia–Ukraine relations


References


Further reading


31 August 2004, the 10th Anniversary of the Withdrawal of Russian Troops from Estonia
Estonia Today, Fact Sheet of the Estonian Foreign Ministry. August 2004. *Aalto, Pami (2003)
Revisiting the Security/Identity Puzzle in Russo-Estonian Relations
''
Journal of Peace Research The ''Journal of Peace Research'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes scholarly articles and book reviews in the fields of peace and conflict studies, conflict resolution, and international security. It was established by J ...
'' 40.5, 573–591. *Ehin, Piret &
Andres Kasekamp Andres Ilmar Kasekamp (born 7 December 1966 in Toronto) is the director of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute ( :et) (since 2000) and Professor of Baltic Politics at the University of Tartu, Estonia (since 2004). Andres Kasekamp served as cha ...
(2005). Estonian-Russian Relations in the Context of EU Enlargement. In Kathryn Pinnick & Oksana Antoneko, eds., ''Russia and the European Union''. Volume 1, Part 3, pages 211–224. *Feldmann, Magnus & Razeen Sally (2002)
From the Soviet Union to the European Union: Estonian Trade Policy, 1991–2000
'' The World Economy'' 25 (1), 79–106. *Kauppila, Laura Eleonoora
The Baltic Puzzle: Russia’s Policy towards Estonia and Latvia, 1992 – 1997
Pro Gradu Thesis, University of Helsinki, 1999. *Kramer, Mark (2002)
NATO, the Baltic states and Russia:a framework for sustainable enlargement
''
International Affairs International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...
'' 78 (4), 731–756. *Park, Andrus (1995)
Russia and Estonian Security Dilemmas
''
Europe-Asia Studies ''Europe-Asia Studies'' is an academic peer-reviewed journal published 10 times a year by Routledge on behalf of the Institute of Central and East European Studies, University of Glasgow, and continuing (since vol. 45, 1993) the journal ''Soviet St ...
'' 47.1, 27–45. *Rutenberg, Gregory (1935)
The Baltic States and the Soviet Union
''
The American Journal of International Law ''The American Journal of International Law'' is an English-language scholarly journal focusing on international law and international relations. It is published quarterly since 1907 by the American Society of International Law (ASIL). The ''Jo ...
'' 29.4, 598–615. *Vakar, Nicholai P. (1943)
Russia and the Baltic States
''
Russian Review ''The Russian Review'' is an independent peer-reviewed multi-disciplinary academic journal devoted to the history, literature, culture, fine arts, cinema, society, and politics of the Russian Federation, former Soviet Union and former Russian Empir ...
'' 3.1, 45–54. *Vares, Peeter and Olga Zhurayi (1998). Estonia and Russia, Estonians and Russians: A Dialogue. 2nd ed. Tallinn: Olof Palme International Center. *Vitkus, Gediminas
Changing Security Regime in the Baltic Sea Region
Final report. Vilnius, 2002.
THE BALTIC PUZZLE – Russia’s Policy towards Estonia and Latvia 1992 – 1997

Heed a Russian 'Cry of Despair' in Estonia
nbsp;–
Andrei Kozyrev Andrei Vladimirovich Kozyrev (russian: Андре́й Влади́мирович Ко́зырев; born 27 March 1951) is a Russian politician who served as the former and the first Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation under Pres ...
in the ''
International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...
''
Letter dated 9 April 1996 from the Permanent Representative of Estonia to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General


External links

*
Documents on the Estonia–Russia relationship from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
*
Embassy of Russia in Tallinn
*
Embassy of Estonia in Moscow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Estonia-Russia Relations Political history of Estonia
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
Bilateral relations of Russia