Land operations
Putin, Moscow has once more arisen to reclaim its status as a great power, coveting the respect it once had as part of a multipolar world. Putin first crushed any dissent to his rule domestically by destroying the Chechen resistance and installing a puppet governor in the form of Ramzan Kadyrov in 2007. He then cast his gaze toward his country’s former subjects, flattening Georgia in 2008 and invading and annexing parts of Ukraine in 2014, before engaging in interventions even further afield in Syria in 2015. This was all part of Putin’s grand strategy of seemingly making Russia great again, to repurpose a turn of phrase popularised by former US President Donald Trump.
A line in the snow Yet, Putin’s illegal annexation of Crimea seems to have encouraged a hubristic streak in the Russian leader – and inadvertently led to him reenergising the military alliance to ensure their collective security could no longer be threatened by the Russian bear that had finally awoken from its decades-long hibernation. In the run up to the invasion, Putin continued to cite Nato expansionism once again, and was roundly rebuked by Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg who said: “It’s only Ukraine and 30 Nato allies that decide when Ukraine is ready to join Nato. Russia has no veto, Russia has no say, and Russia has no right to establish a sphere of influence to try to control their neighbours.” Ignoring Stoltenberg, and believing that Nato, led by an increasingly isolationist and feckless US, would be too weak or divided to resist their designs, the Kremlin launched an ill-considered and ill-fated invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia’s seeming intent was the toppling of the government in Kyiv in favour of a puppet regime, and annexing yet more land in the Donbas by establishing subservient yet ‘independent’ republics in Luhansk and Donetsk. What transpired was, instead, a humbling and humiliating experience for the Russian strongman, whose forces have now been beaten back across several critical axes of advance, with the most embarrassing defeat occurring in Kharkiv. While not Nato members, Kyiv’s forces were able to achieve these hard-fought feats of arms through extensive assistance from the alliance, particularly in the form of FGM-148 Javelin anti-armour missile systems and M142 Himars multiple rocket launcher that left Russian armour and supply depots smouldering in burning craters. Far from proving Nato was now incapable of defending itself and reversing its membership expansion, Putin’s actions in Ukraine actually encouraged both Sweden and Finland to make urgent applications to join the military alliance. Kyiv itself also made a bid for Nato membership, although considering the present state of active hostilities, this is unlikely to proceed. With Nato continuing to expand, and military aid continuing to flow to the Ukrainian defenders, it is safe to say that the chances
of further Russian military action in Europe has receded as Moscow fights to salvage something from the Ukrainian quagmire it now finds itself in.
Never alone again But, as Major General Veiko-Vello Palm of the Estonian Defence Forces explains, this does not mean that his country’s forces, nor those of the wider alliance, are being complacent – or indeed only just woken up to the threat posed by the Kremlin. “The Russian aggression on Ukraine hasn’t really influenced our defence policy,” Palm says, adding, “It is not as though we woke up on 24 February – which just so happens to be our national independence day – and realised the world had changed and Russia was suddenly on our borders. Russia, and the threat posed by Russia, has long been a core consideration of our defence posture.”
“It is not as though we woke up on 24 February [...] and realised the world had changed and Russia was suddenly on our borders.”
Major General Veiko-Vello Palm
And Palm should know all about the Russian threat to the east. He not only began his military career shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but has also attended Nato courses after his country’s accession to the organisation in 2004, while steadily rising through his nation’s ranks until he was appointed deputy commander of the Estonian Defence Forces in 2021. If there is someone who understands what the alliance is facing and why Nato cannot be allowed to wither away, it is Palm. Sitting on the frigid shores of the Baltic Sea, Russia looms ominously across the eastern bank of Lake Peipus, which separates it from Estonia. A former
Defence & Security Systems International /
www.defence-and-security.com
An Estonian Defence Force military parade in the capital Tallinn, celebrating 100 years of independence.
7,200
The number of active personnel in the Estonian Defence Forces, as of 2021.
International Institute for Strategic Studies
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MKstudio/
Shutterstock.com
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