Estonian security service warns nearly 400 Estonians studying in Russia risk recruitment
Estonian officials warn that young people studying in Russia can be recruited by intelligence services or sent to the front in Ukraine. UNESCO data show 384 Estonians studied there in 2023.
Estonia's Interior Ministry and the Internal Security Service (KAPO) are warning that young Estonians who choose to study in Russia risk being recruited by intelligence services or ending up in the war in Ukraine. The newspaper Postimees reported the story, which was relayed by the public broadcaster's ERR News portal.
How many Estonians study in Russia
Neither Estonia's Ministry of Education and Research nor the national education information system keeps figures on Estonians enrolled at Russian universities. UNESCO statistics put the number at 384 in 2023, the year after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. The Russian Embassy in Estonia actively promotes Russian higher education on its website, offering scholarships regardless of academic results, plus free language courses.
What officials say
Interior Minister Igor Taro (Eesti 200 party) called studying in Russia one of the strangest and most incomprehensible reasons to travel there. He said Estonia's ability to give consular or other help to a citizen in danger would be extremely limited. According to him, a foreign national could be taken hostage in order to be swapped for captured Russian intelligence operatives, or be put in a position where signing a contract with the Russian defense ministry is the only way out, followed by immediate dispatch to the front.
Marta Tuul, a bureau chief at KAPO, said those interested in studying in Russia mostly come from Russian-speaking backgrounds. She said Russian universities host intelligence officers working under cover who identify and recruit students. Recruits may not be activated right away, as the services can wait until the person reaches a useful position. Tuul also said the fate of African students sent to the front cannot be ruled out for Estonians.
The Narva case
In August, Postimees reported on Nikita Kuzmin, born in Estonia, who enrolled at a university in St Petersburg. He was recruited by the GRU, Russia's military intelligence, and given a choice between cooperation and the front. Kuzmin gathered information on military and civilian sites in Narva before he was caught and sentenced to four years. Prosecutor Margaret Beres said he had no accomplices in Estonia and was caught early, so no significant damage was done to the country's security.
