Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur visited the Southern Territorial Defence District headquarters in preparation for training exercise Ussisõnad, which will involve nearly 10,000 reservists over the course of September and early October 2023.
The government aims to train the command structure of these territorial defence units.
As it stands, the Estonian Defence Force (EDF) has more than 4,000 personnel in permanent readiness with another 4,000 in supplementary reserve.
In addition, there are more than 40,000 reservists that have been trained by the armed forces. In total, the EDF includes about 230,000 persons enrolled in mobilisation registry, that is nearly 20% of the Baltic nation’s population.
“Ussisõnad [will be] the largest exercise for reservists in Estonian history,” Pevkur noted. “The government introduced an increase in the wartime structure, largely through the expansion of the territorial defence.
“It is now necessary to ensure that the territorial defence units are prepared to act to preserve freedom in Estonia, regardless of the threat. The training exercise for the command structure currently underway will create the best basis for the success of the exercise this autumn.”
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