Estonia’s weekend warriors: The SAS civilians urging Brits to get off the sofa and learn how to fight
Citizen soldiers on an Estonian island are dubbed “the SAS” because they train with weapons and war paint on Saturdays and Sundays.
The volunteers – many of them middle-aged dads and the odd mum – said British civilians should also consider getting off their sofas and learning how to fight as the threat from Russia grows.
It echoes a rallying cry last month from the outgoing head of the British army, General Sir Patrick Sanders, who said civilians need to be trained to fight a future war – an idea immediately dismissed by Rishi Sunak’s government.
“You know, we love our freedom,” said Major Tanel Kapper, who commands the Estonian Defence League forces on the island of Hiiuma.
He was speaking as his troops weaved between a huddle of tall, skinny pine trees, then dropped to one knee, before taking aim with their rifles and opening fire.
“We lost it [freedom] once already, so we don’t want to lose it another time. It’s wrong to think that somebody else is coming to fight your war if you are not ready to defend yourself.”
Civilians in Estonia are preparing
Estonia, which shares a 180-mile border with Russia and only won back its independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991, understands the danger from Moscow all too well.
It is why Estonian military chiefs doubled the size of their territorial defence force – the people who would support the much smaller professional army in a crisis – to 20,000 personnel following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost exactly two years ago.
That number comprises about 10,000 Defence League volunteers and the new addition of some 10,000 former conscript soldiers who are part of the military reserve.
At the ‘friendship bridge’, on the Russian border
Major-General Ilmar Tamm, the head of the Defence League, said the main role of his troops is to deter an attack by President Vladimir Putin’s forces.
Linking NATO security to what happens in Ukraine though, he warned that the chance of such an act of aggression would grow if Russia’s forces prevail in their fight against Kyiv.
“How seriously [do] we take the support to Ukraine?” Major General Tamm said in an interview at his headquarters in the capital, Tallinn.
“If we give up in Ukraine, so are we giving up also our own defence? So… it’s quite critical and should be not separated,” he said.
A ferry trip from the mainland through chunks of icy sea, the island of Hiiuma is a densely forested beauty spot off Estonia’s west coast that is home to about 9,000 residents and becomes a popular holiday destination in the summer.
On board the ferry to Hiiuma
But it could also become a key target for Russia in any future confrontation with NATO.
Pointing to a map, Major Kapper said Moscow could use the island’s vantage point in the Baltic Sea to cut off access to the Baltic States via the vital waterway.
It is perhaps one reason why British soldiers, based in Estonia as part of a NATO mission to deter Russian threats, visit the island on occasion for training exercises.
Sky News was invited at the weekend to watch around 20 Defence League volunteers practise how to attack an enemy inside a frozen patch of forestland – a challenge that is made much harder when trying to shoot through lots of spindly trees.
The men and one woman loaded their rifles with live ammunition and took it in turn to practise an ambush.
Training over, they drove back to their makeshift barracks, fitted with a sauna – common in all Estonian military quarters – which is used to warm up freezing limbs after hours spent running around in sub-zero temperatures.
Last Sunday afternoon, there was no time to thaw in comfort as the volunteers had to dismantle and clean their rifles before heading back to their civilian lives.
A soldier during practice
Polishing part of his gun, Taavi, a father of two, with his face painted green, said he decided to join the Defence League along without about 14 friends last year in part as a response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The construction worker said he did not want conflict, but was ready for combat if Russia invades.
“I have to take the weapon and try to protect my family, my home,” he said.
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Asked why defending his island was so important to him, Taavi said: It’s my home. It’s easy… it’s a good place.”
With the volunteers one of the only lines of defence on the island, Major Kapper said the tempo of training had been doubled to two weekends a month.
He had a warning for President Putin if he tried to attack: “It will be a bloody mess if you come here. We will definitely kill as many of you as possible.”
As for whether he had a message to other NATO countries like the UK that maybe are not doing as much to bolster their defences, the officer said: “To wake up. It won’t stop in Ukraine. If we don’t stop them, then they will come further and further.”
Pope Francis died little more than half an hour after being taken ill, Vatican sources have told Sky News.
Pope Francis woke at 6am on Monday, and was fine for at least an hour, sources said, as they revealed details of the pontiff’s final moments.
Around 7am, the Vatican’s medical unit received an emergency call from his Casa Santa Marta apartment.
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Where will Pope Francis be buried?
Pope latest – Prince William to attend funeral
An urgent transfer to the Gemelli hospital, where he was treated for pneumonia earlier this year, was among the options considered.
A request for an urgent escort from the Vatican was received by Rome police after 7am, sources there said, but, given how quickly his condition worsened, it was cancelled by Vatican officials before 7.35am.
Francis died at the age of 88, a day after making his final public appearance at St Peter’s Square, where he greeted crowds on Easter Sunday, one of the most important days of the Christian calendar.
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First images of pope’s casket
The Vatican said he died from a stroke that led to a coma and irreversible heart failure.
He is currently lying in state in the Santa Marta Domus in a private viewing for Vatican residents and the papal household.
Francis will be laid to rest Saturday, the Vatican announced on Tuesday, after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects.
The funeral will take place outside, in the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica, and will start with a procession led by a priest carrying a cross, followed by the coffin and ordained clergy.
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‘Many were in tears, I was in tears’
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, will lead the service. Nine days of mourning begin afterwards.
Unlike his predecessors, Francis will be buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (St Mary Major), as per his final burial wishes, announced on Monday.
The basilica is dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God, and is where Francis traditionally went to pray before and after foreign trips.
He will be the first pope to be buried outside the Vatican in more than a century.
In another change from tradition, he will be buried in a simple wooden casket, forgoing the centuries-old practice of burying the late pope in three interlocking caskets made of cypress, lead, and oak.
Prince William will attend the funeral on behalf of King Charles, Kensington Palace has said.
Cardinals will gather in a conclave to choose his successor afterwards.
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Francis, the first Jesuit and Latin American pontiff, had suffered from a chronic lung disease and had part of a lung removed as a young man.
Health issues plagued him throughout his later life, and he was admitted to Gemelli hospital in Rome on 14 February for a respiratory crisis that developed into double pneumonia. He stayed at the hospital for 38 days before being released.
World
Kristi Noem: Top Trump official’s handbag – containing $3,000 in cash and security pass – stolen in burger restaurant
A bag belonging to the US Homeland Security Secretary was stolen on Sunday night – containing thousands of dollars in cash and an ID card that gives access to secure agency buildings.
Kristi Noem was eating at a Washington DC burger restaurant with family when a man in a face covering sat near her table and stole her purse, according to two people familiar with the theft.
Officials confirmed the theft to Sky News’ US partner NBC News on Monday.
The cabinet secretary was carrying $3,000 (£2,243) in cash because “her entire family was in town including her children and grandchildren”, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told NBC.
“She was using the withdrawal to treat her family to dinner, activities and Easter gifts.”
The purse contained her ID card. Reuters file pic
Just before 8pm, a man wearing an N-95 mask walked into the restaurant and up a few stairs to where Ms Noem was eating dinner.
He sat near her table and moved his chair close to hers before sliding her purse toward him with his foot, according to surveillance footage viewed by law enforcement, the sources said.
Within minutes, the man had Ms Noem’s purse under his jacket and walked out of the restaurant.
At least two on-duty members of the US Secret Service were in the restaurant – between Ms Noem and the front doors – according to a source who witnessed the meal.
They said the restaurant wasn’t very busy at the time.
The purse also contained credit cards, blank cheques, her passport, driver’s licence and a set of keys.
It’s unclear whether Ms Noem was specifically targeted – and investigators are looking into whether the man knew who the purse belonged to.
When asked about the incident, Ms Noem said: “I don’t think I can comment on it yet. It’s not resolved yet.”
She said the Secret Service was aware but said she hadn’t spoken to agency personnel about what happened.
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Ms Noem is a vocal supporter of Donald Trump’s policies of deporting undocumented immigrants and fortifying the US-Mexico border to slow illegal migration.
World
Starmer and Zelenskyy discuss ending Russia’s ‘brutal war’ – as Putin says says he is open to bilateral talks on longer ceasefire
Sir Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about ending Russia’s “brutal war” on Ukraine in their latest phone call on Easter Monday, as Vladimir Putin said he was open to bilateral talks.
The prime minister and Ukrainian president spoke on Monday afternoon, when Sir Keir “reiterated his iron-clad support for Ukraine“.
A Downing Street spokesperson added that the prime minister “said that the UK supports Ukraine’s calls for Russia to commit to a full ceasefire and that now is the time for Putin to show he is serious about ending his brutal war”.
“They discussed the latest developments on the Coalition of the Willing, and looked forward to further progress towards a just and lasting peace,” the spokesperson added.
Mr Zelenskyy later said on social media that he had a “good and detailed conversation” with the prime minister, and added Ukrainian officials will be in London for talks on ending the war with Russia on Wednesday.
“We are ready to move forward as constructively as possible, just as we have done before, to achieve an unconditional ceasefire, followed by the establishment of a real and lasting peace,” he added.
The Ukrainian president added that the 30-hour Easter truce, which both Kyiv and Moscow accuse the other of violating, showed that Russia “are prolonging the war”.
It comes as Mr Putin proposed bilateral talks with Ukraine on a longer ceasefire, which would mark the first time Russia held such talks since a failed peace deal soon after the invasion in 2022.
Speaking to a state TV reporter, the Russian president said: “We always have a positive attitude towards a truce, which is why we came up with such an initiative (the Easter truce), especially since we are talking about the bright Easter days.”
When asked about Mr Zelenskyy’s calls to extend the 30-hour ceasefire into a 30-day pause on civilian targets, he added: “This is all a subject for careful study, perhaps even bilaterally. We do not rule this out.”
The Ukrainian president said on Sunday evening that the Russian army had “violated Putin’s ceasefire more than 2,000 times” during the day, and accused Russia of “failing” to “uphold its own promise of a ceasefire”.
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From Saturday: Why Putin offered an Easter truce?
It also comes after Donald Trump has said he hopes Russia and Ukraine “will make a deal this week,” after he and his secretary of state Marco Rubio warned that the US will walk away from efforts to broker a peace deal unless there are clear signs of progress soon.
The US president said on his Truth Social platform that both countries would “start to do big business” with the US after ending the war.
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Last month, Ukraine accepted Mr Trump’s proposal for a 30-day truce, but Mr Putin refused to back a full 30-day ceasefire, saying crucial issues of verification had not been sorted out.
He then said he would agree not to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. However, both sides have accused each other of breaking the moratorium on attacks on energy targets and at sea.
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