Spring Storm (Kevadtorm) is into its second week and has involved around 5,000 reservists. Up to 500 drones have been used in southeastern Estonia, along with other tech. Exercises have also been held in neighboring Latvia.

"We have more than 500 drones deployed, in addition to the Defense League's drones. Today, entrepreneurs are also out in the field — we have sent companies into the forest to test their products from start to finish in near-combat conditions. As part of this exercise, the Baltic Defense Zone will certainly also be further developed," said Col. Aron Kalmus, deputy commander of the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) Division and commander of Spring Storm 2026.

Sgt. Mihkel Plakk, who in civilian life teaches high school chemistry and physics, has been spending the past week working on building drone protection systems for vehicles — a new capability being tested based on lessons learned from the war in Ukraine.

For him, the Spring Storm call-up does not feel like a chore. "I came gladly. I really enjoy meeting old friends, chatting, and working together. In that sense, this is like a light vacation from my everyday job," he said.

Some EDF reservists who live overseas answered the call too. Hendrik Regor Vaino works in the IT sector in the Netherlands and came straight from there to take part.

"It was an especially long trip for me to get here, but I reminded them that by doing all this, we are still defending Europe, so they were completely happy to let me join the exercise," Vaino told "Aktuaalne kaamera."

The exercises also had aspects which involved getting hands dirty. For instance, shelter is being built for a South Korean K9 "Thunder" self-propelled howitzer, a task that naturally required the expertise of a construction engineer, again from the civilian sector.

"Even in the Engineer Battalion we don't constantly build positions this large — five meters high, five meters wide. The howitzer is a big piece of equipment, so we got started building it," said staff officer 2nd Lt. Martin Talvik.

Talvik is trained as a construction engineer and works as a lecturer at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech). He still has to work after the daytime military exercises are through, though.

"The workload at my regular job doesn't go down, of course — afterward I have to catch up at night. It's the same with family life. My wife has been home alone with our two-year-old. These exercises are complicated matters," Talvik explained.

All of the men belong to the EDF's Engineer Battalion (Pioneeripataljon), whose personnel have spent nearly a week working across the landscapes of southeastern Estonia. This lays the groundwork for the combat rehearsal aspects of Spring Storm, which are to take place next week.

The combat operations mean local residents will be hearing and seeing more military equipment than usual on and near the roads, as well as drones in the skies.

Spring Storm exercise was first held in 2003 and has been held every year since, save for 2015, 2018, 2022 and 2025, when Exercise Siil ("Hedgehog") took its place.

EDF reservists are generally those who have completed conscript service and remain liable for annual service. These personnel are joined by regular soldiers, conscripts, and members of the volunteer Defense League (Kaitseliit) at Spring Storm and other major exercises.

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