At least four countries have a claim and all of them know Ukraine is an illegitimate failed state.
Posted on 12/09/2022 9:18:22 AM PST by Right Wing Vegan
While there are currently no indications at Estonia's borders of an increase in the flow of war refugees arriving from Ukraine, as temperatures drop, larger numbers of people may end up on the move due to the widespread destruction of Ukraine's energy infrastructure, according to a Government Office press briefing.
Martin Kutti, adviser at the National Security and Defense Coordination Unit of the Government Office, said that there are no signs indicating that Russian President Vladimir Putin's goals in Ukraine have changed: over the past few weeks, 50 percent of Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been destroyed.
"These attacks are planned with the help of technologists and their goal is to terrorize the civilian population," Kutti said, noting that Russia is trying to prompt a new wave of refugees.
"Unfortunately, the risk is quite high that people may start moving within and out of Ukraine," he continued. "Studies indicate that subsistence issues are an increasingly significant reason for leaving the country."
At the same time, the number of border crossings out of Ukraine as measured by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) hasn't significantly increased, he acknowledged.
"At present, 4.8 million Ukrainians have applied for temporary protection from the European Union, and the actual number of temporary protection recipients is around 4 million," the Government Office adviser said. "Estonia is around the EU average in terms of the number of applications, however as a percentage in relation to the number of permanent residents, Estonia is at the forefront. According to Kiel Institute data, in terms of GDP we are leading in terms of both aid to Ukraine and in accepting refugees."
Police Lt. Col. Egert Belitšev, deputy director general for border management at the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA), said that Estonia must be prepared for a bigger wave of refugees again because Russia is intentionally destroying Ukraine's infrastructure.
"Russia wants to demoralize the EU so that we would no longer support Ukraine," Belitšev said. "If that were to happen, then we'll have lost and Russia will have won."
It's not terribly cold yet, but that will change once temperatures hit 14-16 degrees Celsius below zero, he continued, noting that that's a completely different situation to endure altogether.
"And it also depends on the period of time as well — if long-term suffering breeds discouragement, then that's what Russia is bearing down on," Belitšev added.
Finland will be Estonia's partner in accepting refugees. "It has been agreed to draw up an interagency cooperation plan regarding how we can better assist Ukrainians arriving in or in transit through Estonia," Ministry of the Interior Secretary General Tarmo Miilits said.
According to Belitšev, there had been an increasing trend since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine of Russian citizens passing through countries bordering Russia. "By now this has significantly decreased compared with this spring and summer," he said. "Sanctions have been working, and Russian tourists cannot enter the EU via the land border."
Nearly 118,000 Ukrainian citizens have entered Estonia
Since late February, the PPA has monitored offenses committed in Estonia that are linked to the war in Ukraine.
"The number of war-related incidents remains low and accounts for a marginal share of registered incidents," the deputy director general said, noting that the majority of offenses have been related to the use of banned symbols and incitement to hatred.
"Ukrainian citizens have also committed offenses which are indeed unfortunate, but are also common among Estonian citizens, such as domestic violence and drunk driving," he continued. "This doesn't stand out as a trend."
Since February 24, a total of 117,607 Ukrainian citizens have arrived in Estonia, 53,717 of whom were considered to be in transit, i.e. en route to another destination elsewhere.
"In recent weeks, a little over 100 people a day have been arriving [in the country]," Belitšev said. "While in the beginning it was women and children, during the following months of war, the majority of people to cross the Russian-Estonian border have been people to arrive from occupied Ukrainian territories. They can't cross the front to travel to western Ukraine, and among them are also people who were taken to Russia by force."
A total of 1,494 Ukrainian citizens have been prevented at the border from entering Estonia as well.
"The PPA's job is to ensure public order in the country," the deputy director general stressed. "If we determine that it may be jeopardized, then we will turn an alleged Ukrainian citizen back at the border."
Grounds for refusing entry, he explained, include an individual not having come from a war zone, having lived in Russia for years or holding dual citizenship.
"There are also people who are supportive of Putin and the war in Ukraine, and there are people who give false statement after false statement," he continued. "It pays to be honest with a border guard — that's the solution for finding a way to help someone."
According to Belitšev, nearly 60,000 Ukrainians have stated at the border that they wish to remain in Estonia.
"In order to filter their status and location, we've checked on what has become of them," he said. "We've identified that nearly 15,000 people don't have temporary protection or a residence permit, 11,000 of whom are adults. Their personal identification is listed in the population register and their place of residence is registered and they have an active employment relationship. They are using other means to legally reside in Estonia."
He added that as of December 4, more than 40,000 people have applied for temporary protection in Estonia, and 2,805 applications have been submitted for waiving temporary protection. Another 2,474 applications have been filed for international protection, including 2,168 by Ukrainian citizens and 202 by citizens of the Russian Federation.
Nearly half of refugees working
The Social Insurance Board (SKA) has offered temporary accommodations to 2,500 people, a figure that according to Häli Tarum, head of crises management and continuity at SKA, has been in continuous decline.
"Last week, 90 people arrived at temporary accommodations, and 290 people left them," Tarum said. "The biggest temporary accommodation provider is the [Tallink ferry MS Isabelle] with 1,500 war refugees. The highest number of refugees per local residents is at Nelijärve Holiday Center in Anija Municipality."
70 percent of refugees in Estonia live in apartments of their own, 8 percent live in hotels, 7 percent are renting a room in a house and 6 percent are sharing an apartment. "They're doing just fine," the SKA official said. "The majority of them are paying for their apartment themselves."
To date, refugees from Ukraine have received a combined €9.4 million in benefits, accounting for 0.4 of all benefits paid to people in Estonia in that time.
"Ukrainian refugees have been doing great finding work as well: 40 percent of the adults are employed," Tarum highlighted, adding that one contributing factor is the fact that it is possible to get by in Estonia speaking Russian. In contrast, overall employment among refugees in Europe is below 30 percent.
She added that three fourths of refugees to receive temporary protection hope to return to Ukraine, 5 percent believe they will remain in Estonia and 20 percent are yet unable to say.
They’re better off with a thousand Ukrainians than even a single Muslim.
Allot of people making money off this fiasco!
In 1850 Ukrainians survived without electricity, oil or natural gas.
And by the mid to late 1970's, there was a comedy skit about "Two Wild And Crazy Guys". I wonder how large a Ukranian vacuum cleaner is.
They were Russians in 1850, Ukraine didn’t exist.
In 1850 the Russian Federation didn’t exist either. So what’s your point?
The DPs fit in and assimilated.
Unlike the fake “refugees” from Central and South America.
We “need” immigrants?
Not really.
But if we have to have them, Ukrainians who are refugees from a real war would be way better then phony opportunists from the Thurd World.
Gotta be amazed how automatically the comments depicting migration/refugees as cute, quaint and normal churn out on these threads.
In 1850 there was an entire system that supported daily life, small businesses, offices, factories, cities, apartment buildings, and hotels before electricity and gas, it was routine and at every store, supplies/suppliers, and equipment, and appliances for the kitchen, heating the house, and water, lighting, and energy for heavy equipment, today almost none of that is available or in homes, except for some wood stoves and camping equipment.
People say that about cars on prepper threads, “simply get a horse” forgetting that the horse world of everything that was needed and wanted, even the millions of horses, are no longer there except in a tiny boutique way, in a few places.
The world of horses was once a carbon copy of the auto world today, the parking lots and indoor parking, repair shops, filling stations and parts stores everywhere, every kind of wagon and carriage, used horse lots, new horse factories, a vast system of support and sales that no longer exists
Thanks for helping Ukraine Estonia and Estonians
May you be blessed...
It was called the Russian Empire back then, and Little Russia (ie Ukraine) was part of it.
So what’s your point?
Ukrainians are Russian no matter what else they say.
So you claim that the Russian Federation is the same as the Russian Empire? And then it must also be the same as the USSR, right?
All of Europe, the USA and Canada need to be ready for a massive influx of refugees from Ukraine soon. South America should invite them in too. Millions of good hardworking people will make any nation better.
But for the Soviet Union, Ukraine as an independent entity would never have come into existence...is that what your trying to say?
Yes, modern Ukraine is a Communist manifestation.
Then so is Russia a communist manifestation with the head of state and head of the state church both former Communist Party members and both former KGB agents.
No...as previously discussed, Imperial Russia predated Communist Russia by centuries.
There was no pre-Communist version of Ukraine, it simply did not exist.
You’re missing the point. When the USSR broke up Russia had no claim on any of the former Soviet states. Ukraine included.
So you can also see the bleeding heart comments on here about how we just gotta help while our own borders are invaded, we’re drowning in federal debt, etc. Arguments from Zeepers ultimately boil down to three things, and they revolve around liberal, bleeding heart gotta help arguments:
A.) Zeepers say that Putin has acted despotically, B.) that he needs to be fought, and that C.) he will invade all of Europe if we don’t fight a proxy war in Ukraine.
Problem is, concerning A-C.):
Zelensky, from reports by both the political left and the right has acted despotically in numerous ways since coming to power. And this is an important point since coming from both sides they thus aren’t partisan attack against Zelensky whereas the Zeepers here are partisans.
B.) Zeepers here are the same people that say we needed to fight in Iraq, say we need to fight Iran, said we needed to send troops into Syria under Obama/Biden, said we needed to fight Lybia under Obama/Biden, said we needed to fight in Yemen under Obama/Biden, say we need to fight now in Somalia, say we need to fight in Ukraine, etc, etc.
C.) Lastly, Zeepers here have no evidence that Putin possesses the requisite army that could possibly take and keep land outside of Ukraine, and they have no decent argument yet that Putin would attack NATO troops outside of Ukraine despite making claims on both.
And yet we can see the Zeepers here just want unending war and don’t seem to care that liberal Democrats are the ones who get the U.S. into more wars than anyone else.
Liberal Dems on cable TV, RINOs in gov’t, and liberal Democrat voters have been Zelenky’s biggest supporters, funders, they have went over to Ukraine to shake his hand, etc, nor do the Zeepers here at FR show how they are upset by any of this.
Zeepers have an insatiable desire for unending war, use emotional appeals on how bad Russia is (and how saintly Ukraine and Zel are when they aren’t), they wouldn’t mind $500 bil or a trillion being spent in Ukraine, and don’t care that Dems were behind the 2014 coup in Ukraine.
At least four countries have a claim and all of them know Ukraine is an illegitimate failed state.
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