Starting early Thursday morning and continuing throughout the day, members of the Estonian Defense League's (Kaitseliit) Northern Territorial Defense District will be involved in a training exercise in the vicinity of some of Tallinn's harbors, the airport as well as in Nõmme, Pirita and Männiku

"It is vitally important that our reservists are able to practice the activities and maneuvers they have learnt in the precise areas and environment that they will be responsible for defending in the event of war," said Colonel Tarmo Luhaäär, commander of the Estonian Defense League's (Kaitseliit) Northern Territorial Defense District. "Our fighters need to know every street, every house and the important people in the area for which they are responsible."

Luhaäär added that those taking part in the exercises should not be intimidated.

In addition to reviewing and checking the knowledge they have acquired during their training to date, the reservists will also cooperate with partner institutions of the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) and the Defense League (Kaitseliit).

Thursday's activities will be the last component of Ussisõnad involving members of the Northern Territorial Defense District, whose leaders joined the exercise on August 30, and were followed by reactionary units on September 2. Once the urban exercise has been completed, the participants will return their equipment and go home. Ussisõnad will continue on September 13 with the formation and training of reservists from the Northeastern Territorial Defense District.

Ussisõnad is the EDF's largest ever military reservist training exercise. A total of nearly 10,000 reservists are expected to take part in the exercise, which runs until October 8.

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