Blanket ban
Estonia defines ex-combatants broadly to cover everyone involved in Russia’s war effort, from regular troops to proxy forces such as the Wagner mercenary group.
That includes hundreds of thousands mobilized since 2022, as well as tens of thousands who later deserted at risk of a prison sentence.
Pevkur rejected concerns that a blanket ban would also punish those who’d been recruited under pressure. “Before joining the Russian Army, they have the chance to flee,” he said.
However, during Russia’s mobilization drive, Estonia was among those countries that decreed that fleeing conscription would not qualify as grounds for asylum or other forms of protection, suggesting that dissenters should resist the war at home.
Independent journalists and experts have reported that some 300,000 Russian men have been mobilized, many under pressure. Mediazona, an independent Russian media outlet, estimates that some 18,000 mobilized soldiers have been killed. The remainder have yet to be discharged.
Returning veterans
Joris van Bladel, a military sociologist at the Brussels-based Egmont Institute, said returning veterans “constitute a risk group — both for Russia and for us.”