Estonian authorities revoked the residence permit of Sergei Chaulin, a Russian activist who leads the NGO for Russian citizens in Europe and organized the Immortal Regiment in the republic. On Wednesday, February 15, Interfax reported the development.
Chaulin left Estonia on the evening of February 14, the Estonian Security Police Department stated in a press release.
Chaulin, who did not hold Estonian citizenship, resided in the country on a long-term residence permit. According to the security police, he had been shown to promote years of political and ethnic hostility under the banner of an anti-fascist movement.
The agency noted that a residence permit may be revoked if the holder is deemed a threat to public order or national security.
“Nobody needs me in Russia”
Chaulin has already confirmed his presence in Russia, sharing this information with a media portal.
“Yes, I was deported. They arrested me under the guise of presenting Immortal Regiment portraits. There were security police officers involved. They asked for 30 pages, took my phone and documents, and sent me away.
I was deported because I was in uniform. They did not allow me to seek legal counsel,” he said.
In an interview with a broadcasting outlet, Chaulin voiced his disagreement with the claim that he posed a threat to public order or national security. The activist added that, in Russia, “nobody needs me.”
“Sergey Chaulin, who holds a gray passport and is mentioned in Kapo records as a pro-Kremlin activist, had to leave Estonia after being denied a long-term residence permit,” the publication reported.
According to media reports, Chaulin headed to Saint Petersburg. At the same time, the security police noted that he traveled to Russia “by his own choice.”
Who is Chaulin?
Sergey Chaulin has long been associated with spreading and supporting material deemed hostile to the Russian Federation in the context of its actions in Ukraine, which has been documented by the Delphi portal.
“As an instrument of the Kremlin, Chaulin has spent years inciting political and ethnic hatred under the banner of the anti-fascist movement. He also led the Immortal Regiment campaigns and managed a nonprofit organization aligned with the Kremlin’s policy of division,” the Kapo statement asserted.
The publication recalls a 2014 solidarity rally in support of Russians living in Crimea and southeastern Ukraine held near the Russian Embassy in Tallinn. Chaulin described the event as “No to double standards!” and displayed a large banner.
“The West’s double standard in relation to protests on Maidan in Kyiv compared with those in Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donbass and Odessa is unacceptable,” he argued.
On February 22 of the previous year, Chaulin reportedly organized a solo protest near the Russian embassy in support of Moscow’s recognition of the independence of the DNR and LNR.
Chaulin has also been a member and the chairman of the board of the Night’s Watch movement, which opposed the transfer of the Bronze Soldier monument to Soviet soldiers in April 2007. He has marked Bronze Night commemorations annually since then, although in April 2022 the police banned the event, saying it could provoke unrest and tensions within the community. In the spring, Chaulin noted that unknown individuals damaged the Order of the Red Star on the Bronze Soldier monument.