Estonian Villagers in Tyumen Oblast Refuse to Make Donations for Putin’s War in Ukraine

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 30 – Because of the tumultuous history of Russia over the last two hundred years, there were until recently numerous villages throughout the country populated almost entirely by members of one or another nationality with ties to what are now independent countries and are increasingly viewed by Russian officials as a problem to be overcome.

Many of these people have left for their homelands or have been subject to dispersal as part of Moscow’s efforts to promote Russification, and they seldom receive much attention in the Russian media because the Kremlin has little interest in showing how it increasingly represses not only indigenous nationalities but those with foreign roots as well.  

            That makes a 4,000-word article on a Tyumen portal about the village of Antsensk which is now the only Estonian settlement in that oblast where the people speak their native language and retain their national culture especially interesting (72.ru/text/gorod/2025/10/27/75513572/ and mariuver.com/2025/10/31/kak-estontsy-tjumeni-stali-neugodnym-narodom/).

            Estonians resettled in the region in 1909 as part of Stolypin’s agricultural reforms; and despite everything, those few who have not returned home continue to use their native language, celebrate national holidays, and are Evangelical Protestants despite intense efforts at Russification.

            One way Tyumen officials have sought to force them to leave either for Estonia or for larger ethnic-Russian dominated settlements is to fail to provide even the most basic services for the residents of Antsensk. The village didn’t even have a marker until 2019, and it isn’t linked with other settlements by any road, only an often impassable track.

            Nonetheless, the Estonians of Antsensk, who have now been reduced the residents of four houses not only aren’t prepared to go anywhere but have annoyed local officials because as one of them pointed out, the Estonian villagers “are unwilling to ‘chip in’ even for humanitarian aid” for Putin’s military effort against Ukraine.