Changing ethnicity (rahvus) is a personal identity marker, not a legal status and as such differs from legal citizenship (kodakondsus), while a rise in those making the switch from Russian to Estonian ethnicity has been identified by some as the result of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began nearly five years ago.

The switch can be made online via the population e-register.

The most common age to change ethnicity at, Maaleht reported, is 17, on the threshold of adulthood, and no reason has to be given — hence why state agency Statistics Estonia says it cannot state why people make the move.

Kadri Rootalu, head of population and education statistics at Statistics Estonia, said Harju County "gained" nearly 3,000 Estonians at the "expense" of Russian ethnicity in 2025; Ida-Viru County nearly 800.

Over five years, 27,934 people have changed their ethnicity in this way, though it has worked the other way round too — last year 1,060 people whose ethnicity was listed as Estonian changed theirs to Russian last year.

Enel Pungas, head of the Interior Ministry's population facts department, confirmed that determining one's ethnicity is a matter of personal preference, adding people have been able to record it online since around 2005.

Raivo Vetik, professor of comparative politics at Tallinn University, said formally changing ethnicity does not automatically mean a change in identity, and the real question is whether people "feel Estonian" for instance, or see being Russian as an obstacle to getting ahead.

A 2025 study of 1,991 residents with undetermined citizenship, those who are neither citizens of Estonia nor anywhere else, found only 21 percent identified as Russian, while 44 percent preferred "Russian-speaking Estonians" and 18 percent "Estonian Russians" — this demographic, the so-called gray passport holders – is predominantly Russian-speaking.

Meanwhile Ene-Margit Tiit, professor emerita at the University of Tartu, said becoming Estonian is demonstration that being Estonian carries with it a certain prestige, adding the process should be welcomed if it helps integration.

Irene Käosaar, principal of the Narva Eesti gümnaasium high school in Narva, an Estonian-language school in a majority Russian-speaking border town, told the weekly some people change for purely pragmatic reasons and some from conviction, and that the more people feel part of this cultural space, the stronger the country is.

Katri Raik, a former Narva mayor and before that, interior minister, said people began stressing that they were Russian-speaking Estonians after the war in Ukraine began, because being Russian seemed to imply a connection to the Russian regime prosecuting the war.

The original Maaleht piece is here.

The e-register is here.

EKRE MP and former interior minister Mart Helme recently raised the issue of ethnicity at the Riigikogu, saying council deputies and public institutions in Ida-Viru County had reported a noticeable increase in ethnic Russians changing their names and registered ethnicity to Estonian, and asking whether the ministry collects statistics or knows who is making the changes.

Interior Minister Igor Taro (Eesti 200) said security threats do not arise directly from how someone identifies their ethnicity, that the ministry keeps no separate statistics because the issue had not previously been identified as a problem, and that the trend more likely reflects a desire to integrate.

Statistics Estonia data cited by EKRE MP Arvo Aller shows ethnic Estonians as a proportion rose from 18.5 percent of Ida-Viru County's population in 2022 to 20.9 percent, with five times as many people changing their recorded ethnicity from Russian to Estonian as the reverse.

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