British troops train to fight Putin in the forests of Estonia
BRITISH troops have learnt to defend the forests of Estonia against a potential invasion by Russia, proving to Vladimir Putin that “you can’t win here”, the Baltic state’s prime minister has said.
Kaja Kallas made her defiant declaration as 1,500 members of the Armed Forces descended on Camp Tapa as part of the biggest Nato exercise ever held in the country.
The manoeuvres are designed to warn the Russian president against aggression in the Baltic and Ms Kallas told The Daily Telegraph Nato troops had trained in Estonia’s forest scenery and terrain and how its army, air defence and heavy weaponry work.
“It means people understand that if they are stationed in Yorkshire or Manchester but ... the call comes, they are coming and know what is here. What I hear from the military, it’s getting better and better every day.”
She added: “For me, it is important that we are able to defend our country from the first minute. Therefore Nato’s plans need to work in practice. I see that this could function.
“If our adversary also knows this, it takes down the will to attack us because you can’t win here.”
Speaking from Stenbock House, the official government building in Tallinn, Ms Kallas revealed how once, over dinner at the Munich Security Conference, “the head of an intelligence service of an important ally” dismissed her fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. “He said, ‘Russia will not attack Ukraine’. I said, ‘I hope you are right because we see it differently and we prepare for this’.”
Estonia, which shares a 183-mile border with Russia, was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940 and only liberated again in 1991. It is because of this occupation that Ms Kallas is adamant that British troops and other Nato allies need to be exercising in her country in order to demonstrate to Russia that any attempt to invade will be crushed.
“Our history has taught us very clearly, what is right and what is wrong. They say you can only understand freedom when it’s taken from you. I come from the generation that was born without freedom, and now we have it. I don’t take it for granted. I understand freedom is something you have to fight for.”
She added: “For 50 years when we were occupied, it seems to me that the other side of the Iron Curtain did not know what was happening on our side.”
Ms Kallas spoke of the human atrocities committed on Estonian soil during this period, from the killing of elites and suppression of language and culture to mass deportations of civilians that have been largely unknown.
“That’s why it is so clear to us what is happening in Ukraine and what we have to do to stop this,” she said.“you only understand freedom when it is taken from you, but I don’t think the way to learn this is to lose freedom ... maybe the way to learn is to listen to those who have lost it.”
As part of the Spring Storm exercise, the Uk-led Enhanced Forward Presence (EFP) Battlegroup has been increased to brigade-size strength for the first time. In total, 14,000 personnel from different Nato allies have been exercising together in a “critical situation” to enact how they would respond to a Russian invasion.
In the UK, troops are held at “high readiness” in order to move within hours of any aggressive behaviour. It is a situation Ms Kallas is content with, because “it’s not very hard to move troops”.
Ms Kallas warned that it would be naive to think the world was safe because Russia’s army is depleted, with soaring casualties and plunging morale.
“All this talk that Russia and its army has suffered a lot of losses, is weak and doesn’t have the strength, I think it’s making people sleepy,” she said. “We shouldn’t lose our guard.”