TALLINN - The government deported a retired Russian military official on Aug. 23, after nearly 10 years of litigating over the man's poor health and an Estonian-Russian agreement on military pensioners, the Eesti Paevaleht daily reported.
Until last month, Nikolai Bragin was one of the many retired Soviet servicemen still living in Estonia. Using money provided by the United States for servicemen leaving the Baltics, Bragin obtained an apartment in Tver, Russia 10 years ago. Yet despite having a place to go, the former serviceman refused to leave Estonia.
Authorities extended Bragin's residence permit several times, initially because of the man's precarious health condition. However in November of last year, a circuit court finally ruled that there was no convincing reason why Bragin should stay in Estonia any longer.
The court discovered that, since 1994, Bragin has known of this order to leave Estonia. In 2002, the retired military official promised he would move after completing a series of medical treatment.
Two years later, Bragin had still made no efforts to leave. Police finally detained the ex-serviceman on Aug. 23, handing him over to Russian authorities at the border.
The number of foreign nationals illegally residing in Estonia is estimated to be in the hundreds. So far courts have placed only 10 in the state's extradition center.
The most prominent ex-military refusing to leave despite a precept issued by Estonian authorities is Nikolai Mikolenko, who has long resisted an order to leave.
