Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by gggggg5 1258 days ago
Yes, he is an ethnic Russian who happens to be an Estonian national. "Russian" does not refer to the nationality, it is an ethnicity. There are vast amounts of Russian nationals who are not Russian.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russians

In Estonia these people are referred to as Russians too, because that is what they are and what they identify as.

1 comments

I've met plenty of Estonians who have a Russian ethnic background, however identify as Estonian, speak Estonian, and do not consider themselves Russian. Again, I think the point of what I was getting at should be clear.

And, to your point about them being called Russian in Estonia, I've heard them called "Russian speaking" more than Russian. Then, again, the Estonians I know take a pro-integration position on the matter. The "ethnic Russian" terminology is often used in pro-separatist circles to justify non-integration, or by anti-Russian Estonians.

The point you were getting at simply doesn't exist. Ask those ethnic Russians if that's an Estonian or Russian name, they will tell you it's a Russian name.

Writing Russian names in Estonian script does not make them Estonian names.