Estonia's Defence League volunteer soldiers attend training drill near Rabasaare, Estonia, September 12, 2015. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
PALA, Estonia (Reuters) - Members of Estonia's part-time militia crouch in a sandy trench on a hilltop as machine gun fire echoes through rain washed forest. Russia may be some way off but it is wariness of a vast neighbour that is swelling the force's ranks, drawing labourers and office workers alike to a gruelling exercise.
The Defence League of the Baltic State has grown 10 percent to almost 16,000 soldiers since Russian President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea last year and support for rebels in eastern Ukraine raised security fears in the small NATO nation.
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