these Russians encouraged to join Russia in Kaliningrad

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the situation has become tense in the Baltic Sea between Russia and its European neighbors. Kaliningrad, a small Russian enclave surrounded by European Union countries, is trying to recover Russians who live in neighboring countries and no longer feel comfortable there.

A service is dedicated to this program. An Estonian woman is hurrying to take the necessary steps, she says.because we have the impression that the borders could close, like in Finland, overnight.” One of the center’s officials explains that a site was created to inform “people who live in unfriendly countries” in the Kaliningrad region. According to her, until now, this type of program mainly targeted Russians in Central Asia. But today requests also come from Germany or the Baltic States.

Nadejda has been living in the enclave for a month. Estonian, she was part of the Russian minority in her country. She emigrated because she did not accept the reform of the education system which requires teaching in Estonian. “We did this for the children because we want them to grow up in Russian culture”, she explains. A linguistic policy that Estonia considers, for its part, as vital to the defense of its sovereignty. Estonia supports Ukraine against Russia.