Rain drips down the glasses of new recruit Toivo Saabas, tracing the contours of the green and black face paint that completes his camouflage.
Lying on the saturated ground, and peering through the sight of his gun, the only frailty that threatens to give away his position is the plume of air he breathes out silently into the icy Estonian forest.
Then comes the deafening call to attack.
The 25-year-old springs to his feet. Forming a line with his brothers in arms, he bounds through the trees towards the Russian border.
