Laas Leivat, Eesti Elu
The 24th of February is a milestone in the history of both Estonia and Ukraine. On this date Estonians mark the birth of a nation.
Volodymyr Zelensky named the same day a “rebirth” of his nation. “A new nation was born at four in the morning. It wasn’t born, it was reborn. A people who didn’t weep, or wail or cower. They didn’t flee, capitulate. And they didn’t forget.”
Was this date chosen by Putin done from strictly military considerations or historical significance, i.e. Estonia’s Independence Declaration, which, according to Putin, Russia never recognized? (Putin claims that the current Russian Federation, is not a successor state to Soviet Russia, a signatory to the Tartu Rahu.) The notion that the invasion date chosen was historically symbolic for him may be farfetched but intriguing nevertheless.
In reality February 24th marks the second Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia actually attacked in 2014, on February 20. Now after 365 days of a allout assault, many in the West are anxious to see it end.
