The Estonian Interior Ministry has banned entry to 261 Russian citizens who fought in Ukraine in early January, and hopes that neighboring countries will follow suit, writes ERR News.
Estonian Interior Minister Igor Taro has indicated that the ban on entry to the country was inevitable, because those who committed crimes in Ukraine on behalf of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin have no place in a free and democratic world.
The minister emphasized that these individuals are undoubtedly hostile to Europe, and they are militarily trained and have combat experience, as well as a possible criminal past. “In addition, they have been psychologically traumatized. The threat posed by them is not just abstract. It includes both the possible conducting of tasks for Russian special services and participation in organized crime,” Taro added.
Ministry’s undersecretary for internal security Joosep Kaasik said that these are just the first bans, and others will follow.
The decision to ban Russians who fought in Ukraine from entering Estonia was not made in a hurry.
The issue was widely discussed in the summer of 2025, when the interior ministers of the Nordic and Baltic states met in Estonia. According to Kaasik, since then Estonia has repeatedly raised the issue at various European Union-level meetings. He stressed that he hopes that other countries will follow Estonia’s example, and the main goal is to create a Schengen-wide ban on obtaining Schengen visas and EU residence permits for those who participated in the war.
It is estimated that around 1.5 million of its citizens participated in Russia’s military aggression, and almost half are still at the front. Serious violent crime in Russia has reached its highest level in 15 years, and this is attributed to the return of a large number of previously imprisoned criminals from the front.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna also stressed that the entry ban is just the beginning – Estonia will continue to work to prevent former Russian soldiers from entering the country, and calls on others to do the same.
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