The minister has been on an official visit to Italy this week and made his remarks during an audience with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Wednesday.

"Today Estonia marks 77 years since the March deportations, during which the Soviet regime forcibly deported more than 22,000 people from Estonia to Siberia," Tsahkna told Pope Leo. "The same pattern is now being repeated in Ukraine, where one of the gravest atrocities of Russia's ongoing aggression is the deportation of approximately 20,000 Ukrainian children and attempts to erase their Ukrainian identity," Tsahkna went on.

Tsahkna also noted the significance of the Holy See in mediating on such atrocities.

"The Vatican has played an important role in helping deported children return home, and Estonia stands ready to continue comprehensive cooperation towards this goal," Tsahkna added.

"The Pope has a unique ability to bring together people from around the world, regardless of their faith, through his message of care, peace and humanity," he went on.

It was my great honour to participate in the audience with @Pontifex, Pope Leo XIV.

Today marks 77 years since the March deportations, when the Soviet Union forcibly sent over 22,000 people from Estonia to Siberia. I emphasised that the same pattern repeats today in Ukraine,… pic.twitter.com/dkcKpdBETJ

— Margus Tsahkna (@Tsahkna) March 25, 2026

On Tuesday, Tsahkna also met with the Holy See's Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher.

"The Holy See has made active efforts to explain to the world that Russia is the aggressor and Ukraine the victim," the foreign minister said at that time, noting Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine "constitutes a grave violation of international law and the principles of the UN Charter," adding it is in the interests of all countries' security that Russia's attempts to change borders by force must not succeed."

On Tuesday Tsahkna also discussed the situation in Ukraine with the Grand Chancellor of the Sovereign Order of Malta, Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo, noting the aid to Ukraine the order has provided during the invasion.

On the day Estonia commemorates the 77th anniversary of the March 1949 deportations, we must reflect that Russia is committing similar atrocities in Ukraine in our times, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) said.

#OTD, we remember the more than 20,000 Estonians, who were forcibly deported by the Soviet regime to Siberia in March 1949.

Entire families and communities were erased overnight simply for being Estonian. People were driven from their homes at gunpoint, packed into cattle… pic.twitter.com/1KiHtUSWSd

— Estonian MFA | #StandWithUkraine (@MFAestonia) March 25, 2026

On March 25, 1949, over 20,000 Estonians were forcibly deported to Siberia by the Soviet Union – almost 3 percent of the population. The majority of deportees were women and children under the age of 16. In total, over 90,000 people were banished from all three Baltic states, mostly deported to far-flung parts of Siberia, and generally in rail cars usually used to house cattle.

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