Ingrid Nielsen, an environmental activist, never imagined that she would one day put on a military uniform.
“If I could destroy every weapon in the world, I would,” she says. “I’d take men out of war and never let them hold power again.”
But Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – and the atrocities committed in Bucha – shattered that idealism. “Living next to Russia, an imperialist country, we simply don’t have the luxury of pacifism,” she says. ”So we prepare, because that’s the only way.”
Why We Wrote This
Estonia is a minnow next to a very big, dangerous fish. Knowing the threat Russia poses, all of Estonian society contributes to national defense – including the women who join its volunteer reservist forces.
It is that logic that spurred her – and thousands of women like her – to join Estonia’s Women’s Voluntary Defence Organization, or Naiskodukaitse. The Naiskodukaitse and its umbrella organization, the Estonian Defence League, or Kaitseliit, serve a single, urgent mission: to make foreign occupation of Estonia unthinkable.
With only 7,000 professional soldiers in a country of 1.3 million, Estonia depends on its reserve force – not only its tens of thousands of conscript soldiers but also its 18,000 Kaitseliit members, and 11,000 affiliates from women’s, youth, and cyber units. Reporting to the Ministry of Defense, these volunteers form what Nele Loorents of the International Centre for Defence and Security in Tallinn calls “the connective tissue of our civil resilience.”
But volunteering in Estonia’s defense isn’t just about combat. Mothers lead paramilitary, Kaitseliit-affiliated youth groups including the Young Eagles and the Home Daughters. IT professionals bolster cyberdefenses. Citizens train in the same forests where they once played as children. “It’s about embedding readiness into the national mindset,” Ms. Loorents says. “For us, defense is about survival.”
While many European countries are still grappling with how to rebuild their defenses amid rising Russian aggression – often facing public skepticism – Estonia has long embraced a philosophical model of “total,” or “societal,” defense. It’s not just military readiness, says Ms. Loorents, but “uniting society around a common spirit.” Civil, military, economic, and digital sectors are all expected to work together.
“In Estonia,” she adds, “the struggle for sovereignty is deeply embedded in our culture and identity.”
Keeping a wary eye on Russia
That mindset was first tested in 2007, when the government removed a Soviet-era statue from Tallinn. At the time, Russia condemned the statue’s removal as yet another “vengeful policy toward Russians living in Estonia and toward Russia.”
The removal triggered riots among the country’s Russian-speaking minority – which makes up around one-third of the population. A massive cyberattack on Estonia, widely attributed to the Kremlin, soon followed.
For then-student Elisa Jakson, the unrest was a turning point – she finalized her registration with the Naiskodukaitse. Almost two decades later, Ms. Jakson, now a mother of three, leads the organization’s recruitment and crisis preparedness efforts.
Every new act of Russian aggression, from the 2008 war in Georgia to the 2014 annexation of Crimea, triggered spikes in volunteer enlistment. But the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 marked a turning point, especially for women. In just 18 months, more than 1,300 women joined the Naiskodukaitse, tripling its membership to more than 4,000. At its peak, some 400 women were actively training for wartime roles.
It was as though, “after Ukraine, women realized – it’s now or never,” says Ms. Jakson. The pace has since stabilized, but those who join are now deeply committed. “Ten years ago, the threat wasn’t as real as it is today,” she says. “Today’s recruits have thought it through. They know they’ll have to do the military thing.”
Naiskodukaitse Press Office
Estonia is serious about buttressing its defenses. “Time is not on our side,” says Tuuli Duneton, undersecretary for defense policy at Estonia’s Ministry of Defense. Already devoting 3.4% of its gross domestic product to defense – a higher share than any other NATO country except Poland, Lithuania and Latvia – Estonia plans to boost that to more than 5% next year. A joint defensive line is being built with Latvia and Lithuania. A domestic arms industry is in the works.
Yet, at the core of the strategy remain the citizen soldiers. “For social cohesion, the Kaitseliit is crucial,” says Ms. Duneton. “They are among the most patriotic Estonians – mobilized in the best sense.”
Western allies are paying attention. French and British troops now train alongside the Kaitseliit. “They want to learn how we build defense from the ground up – starting with society,” says Ms. Duneton.
“Everything must be militarily credible,” she adds. “Mentality, training, command structures – fully ready.”
When war is a real threat
For Ms. Nielsen, the leap from environmental advocacy to artillery came with deep soul searching. “As a mother, a life-giver, it felt like a huge decision. Could I shoot another person? Could I take that responsibility? Am I ready?”
The answer came quickly. “Yes. Because I know why I’m doing this.”
Naiskodukaitse Press Office
Today, Ms. Nielsen is one of four women in a 30-person mortar unit. She trains in frozen forests, hauls 35-kilogram (77-pound) packs, and loads 120 mm artillery rounds.
“Physically, it’s the hardest thing I’ve done. In 10 years, I won’t be able to do this. But I can now – so I do it now.” Her toughest moment wasn’t during training. It came when her youngest daughter grasped what her service meant. “She turned pale,” Ms. Nielsen says. “But she accepted it. She knows we have responsibilities beyond just our family.”
Laura Vilbiks is not much more than half Ms. Nielsen’s age, but the two now train together for combat duty. For Ms. Vilbiks, not long out of university, defense was never part of the plan. But U.S. President Donald Trump’s election rattled her sense of global security. “I needed to know: If something happens, where do I fit in?” That question led her to the Naiskodukaitse, and eventually, to a combat role.
Even within Estonia, she says, divisions run deep. Her own mother still tends to repeat Russian propaganda. “But a common enemy brings people together. We need each other.” The reserve training has given her not only confidence, but community. “We come from totally different worlds, but this unites us.”
Once, Ms. Vilbiks assumed she would flee in case of war. “Now, I’m grounded. Once you’re trained, it stays with you. You’ve already imagined war – you’re mentally more ready.”
What drives Ms. Nielsen and Ms. Vilbiks is a conviction shared by many of the women joining the Kaitseliit. Estonia gave them education, freedom, and a future.
“How could I not give something back?” Ms. Nielsen asks. “This isn’t panic. This is our reality. And we have to be ready. That’s our strength.”
