Where is the focus in this article?
I don't recall a single instance where Imperial Russia deported citizens of any independent nation without occupying it first. Furthermore, those deportations were usually tactics employed to carry out Russification policies.
And how did mass deportations "nudge Imerial Russia into action? "
Please put Laas back in charge of writing these pieces.

Some readers may see this particular piece as being an effort by the new-look ECC to soften its attitude towards Russia. I don't think this is the case at all-it is simply acknowledging that sure, finger-pointing towards Russia in certain instances may be justified, but not all the time. I don't have a problem with that and neither should most reasonably-minded Estonians.

You say this is a precis. It is not a good one. Everything following the first paragraph is muddled. Even the dates. Starts with 1588, saying this was the first and then follows with 3 dates that PRECEDE that date. A typo we guess! Nevertheless it detracts. EKN never should have put its name to it. Where is Laas??

The deportations:

1500-1599 :: 4 instances
1600-1699 :: none
1700-1799 :: 1 instance
1800-1899 :: none
1900-1999 :: 8 instances

What does this tell us about how the world works?

This article makes no sense. Deportations and internments were carried out by most countries involved in WW I including Canada. Soviet policies had little to do with those of Imperial Russia and I do not see how the two are in any way connected.