Stops: Hestia Hotel Barons, Freedom Square (Vabaduse valjak), Russian Embassy (Day 164)

Ukrainian flags are everywhere in Estonia. Everywhere.

This huge pairing of the Ukrainian and Estonian flags covers the front of the Ministry of Transportation. Every government building I passed had a Ukrainian flag on it. This one is especially important not just because of its size but the location. This is on Freedom Square at one edge of the Old Town. To the left is the monument to the 1918-1920 War of Independence against Russia. The flags face the Tallinn City Hall across the square.

But, this goes way beyond flags and badges. Estonia is a tiny country which also has a significant Russian-speaking population. Estonia has given about €500 million in military support to Ukraine which is 1.4% of GDP. The support here is completely different from what I saw in Helsinki. Blue and yellow was pretty scarce around the Finnish capital–just a few flags atop one hotel and one above the central train station. Certainly nowhere to be seen on or around Finnish or Helsinki government buildings.

The Russian Embassy is right around the corner from my hotel. Really, almost everything is right around the corner from the hotel. Tallinn is a compact and walkable city, but it is still easy to get turned around and go the wrong way in the wandering streets of the Old Town. I passed the Russian Embassy on my way in from the ferry port and went back to gather some images for research data and for teaching from the barricades out front.

Going to need some help with translation on this one, but the general intent is pretty clear.

There is a long barricade on the sidewalk on the embassy side of the narrow, cobblestone lane. This is covered with flags, posters, small memorials, shoes, signs, information sheets, and graffiti. At the end, there is always one police car with two officers. They do not seem to be particularly on guard. One smiled at me. Then there was a bit of a clatter as a guy walked up and leaned a bunch of flag poles on the shopfront cross the street. A couple more people showed up with signs and a drum. The weekly protest began and ran for about an hour. Flag waving, shouting slogans in several languages, and drumbeats filled the opposite side of the street as tourists walked by and locals went about their business. It was all pretty orderly

Besides anti-Russian and anti-Putin slogans, they would mix in a few more general anti-war, pro-peace chants as well. Most passersby took a bit of an interest or just moved on. One woman yelled back at them in Russian, but then kept her head down and picked up the pace as the chants turned to calling her a fascist and greeting her with a Nazi salute. She was the extent of any counter-protest.

The woman with the drum looking up at the Embassy is a Ukrainian-Estonia.

Two protesters.

The heart shaped flags on the t-shirt make an interesting contrast with the Azov Brigade flag he is holding. Azov is, problematic shall we say, and at first I was concerned to see it so prominent, but then many of their chants were explicitly anti-fascist. It’s complicated.

This guy came out of the embassy and took a few photographs of the protesters. Not sure one aggressively snaps a photo with an iPhone, but this guy could do it. Then he went down the street and met up with a few other guys. None of them looked like tourists. Windbreakers and muttering together in a tight bunch. Must be up to something. Sneaky over the shoulder selfie to capture them. Tradecraft. They did not look happy, but all strode away in a group. The whole area is saturated in CCTV coverage, so there was no need for anyone to photograph the protesters directly–just the only way they can really react without creating an incident.

The protesters did a great job of engaging people on the street. Tourists and locals joined in a photo with a banner or for a few minutes of waving and chanting along. The vibe was generally very positive and people were happy to help out. Spoke with the couple in green afterwards–they were visiting from Georgia. You know, the former SSR, not the peach tree state.

It wrapped up after an hour and I chatted with them a bit to find out more. Most spoke English fluently, but one person was completely multilingual and was going back in English, Estonian, and Ukrainian for me and another visitor. The woman with the drum is originally from Ukraine but lives in Tallinn. Her sons are both in the military in Ukraine. One is in mine removal. Must be terrifying.

They have been doing this for ten years since the initial invasion. Every Wednesday afternoon for ten years, Not just two.