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Senior members of Estonia's military want more Nato troops to be deployed there as a deterrent to Russia.
Kusti Salm, permanent secretary for the Estonian Ministry of Defence, said Nato forces needed to increase their presence in the Baltic states to warn Russian President Vladimir Putin against more wars.
“The threat [to Estonia] from Russia is as clear as anything can be. Russia has revealed itself to be a historic-level murderer. They have made no secret about their intent to eventually dismantle Nato,” Mr Salm said.
Estonia is one of Nato’s smallest members with an area of 45,339 square kilometres, but it sits at the heart of the geopolitical fires stoked by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
It is a former Soviet Union state that shares a border with Russia, has Nato membership, and is looking west rather than east. The capital, Tallinn, is 200km from the Russian border by road.
Mr Salm urged Nato member states to double the troops in his country, a request that if granted would bring the total number of Nato soldiers there to about 4,000.
“I think this is what Nato needs to do to in order to face the threat coming from Russia,” he said.
“As the heads of states agreed in Brussels, the plan is to significantly increase the force presence of the eastern flank.
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Ukrainian Nicolai, 41, says goodbye to his daughter Elina, 4, and his wife Lolita, on a train bound for Poland fleeing from the war at the train station in Lviv, western Ukraine. AP Photo -
A damaged Russian artillery tank is seen, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Trostianets, Sumy region, Ukraine. Reuters -
Oksana Kolesnikova cries during the funeral of her son Anatoliy Kolesnikov, 30, a territorial defense soldier who was killed by Russian soldiers in Irpin, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. AP Photo -
US actor and director Liev Schreiber prepares meals in the kitchen of the 'World Central Kitchen', for war refugees from Ukraine staying in Przemysl, Poland. EPA -
A Ukrainian boy musician plays his sax to entertain citizens in a square, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Dinipro, Ukraine. Reuters -
The turret of a destroyed tank near the village of Zalissya, north-east of Kyiv. AFP -
An unexploded shell in a field in Teterivka, near Kyiv. Reuters -
A building damaged during fighting in Mariupol, which is holding out against the Russian invasion. AP Photo -
A soldier from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic during fighting in Mariupol. AP Photo -
A tank destroyed in the village of Termakhivka, Kyiv region. Reuters -
The main station in Dnipro, central Ukraine, where a city official said the remains of more than 1,500 Russian soldiers were being kept in its morgues. AFP -
A torn Ukrainian flag hangs in front a damaged apartment building in Mariupol. Reuters -
A Ukrainian child seeking asylum in the US is driven on a bus to the border from Tijuana, Mexico. Reuters -
Brothers in arms of serviceman Taras Bobanych, who was killed during the fighting with Russia, carry his portrait and coffin at his funeral in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. AFP -
From left to right; Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, Polish President Andrzej Duda, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Latvian President Egils Levits and Estonian President Alar Karis pose for a picture before a meeting in Kyiv. Reuters -
Local residents shelter in the basement of a residential building amid shelling in Lysychansk, in the Luhansk region. AFP -
Local residents view a destroyed car next to a multi-storey building in Lysychansk. AFP -
Ukrainian artillery shells Russian troops' position on the front line near Lysychansk. AFP -
Natalya Verbova, 49, and her son attend the funeral of her husband Andriy Verbovyi, 55, who was killed by Russian soldiers while defending Bucha on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP -
The father and a friend of Anatoliy Kolesnikov, 30, who was killed by Russian soldiers in his car trying to leave Irpin, mourn his death outside the morgue in Bucha. AP -
Pedestrians walk past artwork by the LBWS street art collective on a street in Odesa. AFP -
Engineers inspect damage to the bridge that connects Kyiv with Irpin. AP -
The mark of a shell is seen on a street in Irpin. AP -
A boy shows the shell of a bullet in Bucha. AP -
Cemetery worker Artem, exhausted, looks at the sky while working on the grave of Andriy Verbovyi, who was killed by Russian soldiers while serving in Bucha territorial defense. AP -
Nadiya Trubchaninova, 70, with her son Oleg Trubchaninov, 46, inside the room of her son Vadym, 48, who was killed by Russian soldiers on March 30 in Bucha. AP -
A relative cries after the body of a civilian was exhumed from a shallow grave near his home in the village of Andriivka, in Kyiv region. AFP
“On the eve of a war, Nato would be able to come up with a divisional level land force, air superiority and also maritime command. This is the credible level of war fighting at a minimum that would deter the Russians not to come.
“It would be ridiculous to state that somehow [Russia], the second biggest non-commissioned military in the world, one of the top three military forces in the world, would somehow be deterred by a lesser-manned force than a division.”
Estonia, a country with a population of 1.3 million, has a reservist military of 25,000, but its regular military numbers 3,500 soldiers.
Estonian President Alar Karis visited Ukraine on Wednesday, where he said: “President Putin must lose this war or there will be no peace in Europe.”
The deputy commander of the Estonian Defence Forces, Major General Veiko-Vello Palm, backed Mr Salm's request and emphasised the need for Nato allies to be ready to quickly send units to the Baltic States and supply long-range missile equipment.
Lieutenant Colonel Peter Els, with the Danish contingent who are in Estonia with their Viking Company battle group, said he believed Mr Putin would not dare attack a Nato country because “he knows he cannot win”.
He said: “I don't think that Putin has the will nor the desire to engage Nato. He knows he cannot win and he knows the only outcome would be nuclear war.”
Since the war in Ukraine began, Britain has doubled the number of its soldiers in Estonia as part of the Nato Enhanced Forward Presence in the country, bringing the total to 1,650.
The UK's Royal Welsh Battalion is leading the 1,200-strong Nato battle group, which includes French and Danish forces and is based in Tapa.
Another 800 troops from the Royal Tank Regiment have remained in the country to provide additional support.
Estonia has sent Ukraine €200 million ($216m) worth of military aid, roughly a third of the country's defence budget last year.
The presidents of Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia were with President Karis in Ukraine on Wednesday, when they met Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and visited Borodyanka, a town near Kyiv.
Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda said: “The future of Ukraine will be decided on the battlefield … Ukraine must win.”
