Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said in an interview that Russian troops attempting to breach the Estonian border without insignia would be met by force.

Archived version: https://archive.is/20251225205454/https://www.kyivpost.com/post/66868

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Estonia Issues Shoot-to-Kill Warning Over Russia’s ‘Little Green Men’

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said in an interview that Russian troops attempting to breach the Estonian border without insignia would be met by force.

Kyiv Post (www.kyivpost.com)

“Let me put it bluntly: If the little green men ever cross our border, we will shoot them. Those will be the consequences; there’s no arguing about it. If Russia isn’t sure we’ll actually react, they might test us,” Tsahkna said, as reported by another Polish outlet, Onet.

This is the way to communicate to Russia.

Yes, but communication they actually respond to is about actually shooting the little green men when they appear.

Sure, but the powers in Tallinn have to make this statement first to head off a diplomatic crisis. If Estonia had just started shooting Russians it would have been a much harder position diplomatically. There's no room for Russia to claim "we accidentally stepped on your territory" because Estonia has now made the statement publicly what the consequences for Russian soldiers is that do that. Any Russian soldiers that do that (or their commanders) now have a full understanding they'll be shot.

When the first shooting actually occurs, Russia can't present any kind of credible complaint about "you shot our soldiers that were just lost!". That would show incompetence on the part of Russian commanders, which is something Russian's are even more loathed to admit.

That goes without saying. My intention was to say that threats are not enough. Russians will test them and if they are not acted upon they will take that as a sign of weakness and they will do it again and again and again.