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RESIST THE INVADER!

Vigilante death squads set up across eastern Europe to fight off Vladimir Putin’s soldiers as fears of a full-scale invasion grow

Estonia starts distributing weapons among its populace amid fears it will be overrun by expansionist Russia

SECRET World War 2 style resistance groups are being formed in Estonia amid fears of a looming Russian invasion.

The Estonian Defence League so far has 25,400 volunteers from all walks of life who are ready to defend their homelands should they become occupied.

Estonia's Defence League volunteer soldiers attend training drill near Rabasaare, Estonia
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Estonia's Defence League volunteer soldiers attend training drill near Rabasaare, EstoniaCredit: Reuters
Estonia's Defence League volunteer soldier performs first aid exercise during the training drill
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Estonia's Defence League volunteer soldier performs first aidCredit: Reuters

With weapons being distributed among the population, the league are tasked with carrying out guerrilla war hit-and-run attacks on Russian soldiers.

This would involve them laying improvised explosive devices (IED) - like those that slaughtered and maimed hundreds of Brit squaddies in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Arms would be hidden at secret spots and be used to wreak havoc against the occupiers, disrupting supplies and draining morale.

Resistance members are being trained survival such as making shelters in woods, separating friends from foe and identify differing types of Russian armoured vehicles and weapons.  

Men and women of all ages can join if they have a basic level of fitness.

But it is not just in Estonia where civilians are preparing for invasion.

In Poland there are more than 10,000 members in various volunteer paramilitary groups.

A volunteer during territorial defence training organised by SJS Strzelec (Shooters Association), paramilitary group in the forest near Minsk Mazowiecki, eastern Poland
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The  SJS Strzelec (Shooters Association), paramilitary group, drill in a forest near Minsk Mazowiecki, eastern PolandCredit: Reuters
Picture taken in July 1944 shows Polish resistance fighting in the streets of Warsaw during the Warsaw Uprising against the Nazis
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Polish resistance fighting during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against the NazisCredit: Getty Images

The nation is famed for its Second World War resistance movement that battled its Nazi overlords.

Although the Polish government denies having any links to the group its military is interested in working with them.

It is understood the army was looking into compiling training manuals for them and supplying them with surplus equipment.

But meanwhile, Russia has been accused of having its own secret fighters.

This is because it favours "hybrid warfare" which involves fighting with troops who are not officially yours. 

In 2014 Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine - under the pretext it was helping ethnic Russians from the rebels.

A Russian flag flies near Pro-Russia militants sitting atop a 2S1 Gvozdika (122-mm self-propelled howitzer) as a convoy of pro-Russian forces takes a break as they move from the frontline near the eastern Ukrainian city of Starobeshevo
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Pro-Russia militants atop a 2S1 Gvozdika as they move from the front-line near the Ukrainian city of StarobeshevoCredit: Getty Images

And it is believed to be bidding to follow the same cunning plan in the so called Donetsk People's Republic - an area of Ukraine which has broken away. 

Here secretly trained militias have been allegedly sent by Vladimir Putin to help them fight Ukrainian government forces.

The Baltic static states fear they face the same scenario - that is agents stirring up tension among its own ethnic Russians people and then drafting irregular troops and weapons.

Supporters of the Eurasian Youth Union Movement, a right-wing imperialist group who want a return of the Russian empire
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 The Eurasian Youth Union Movement, a right-wing imperialist group who want a return of the Russian empireCredit: Reuters
Volunteer Russians assemble a Kalashnikov before shooting practice in their makeshift camp organised by the ultra-nationalist Eurasian Youth Union
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Volunteer assemble a Kalashnikov before shooting practice in their camp organised by the Eurasian Youth UnionCredit: AP:Associated Press

The militias are thought to come from the ultra-nationalist Eurasian Youth Union who detest the western powers such as the US and Britain.

Putin expert and biographer Boris Reitschuster asserts in his new book "Putin's Hidden War" that secret reports detail the formation of covert fighter groups across the continent including France and Germany.

"This means the Kremlin leader and ex-Intelligence chief Putin has direct access to an elite fighter network in the West," he told Bilde, a German tabloid newspaper.

On Saturday it emerged that booklets warning of a Russian invasion and offering advice on how to identify tanks, bullets and mines have been distributed by the Lithuanian government.


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