President Putin named the regiment after Tallinn, the Estonian capital which was bombed by the Soviet Union

President Putin has infuriated politicians in Estonia by naming a Russian air force regiment after Tallinn, the capital, which was bombed by Soviet forces in March 1944.

Mr Putin signed a decree to add Tallinn to the name of the 23rd fighter regiment, based in Russia’s far east. He said the initiative was designed to instil “the spirit of loyalty to the fatherland and allegiance to military duty” in Russian servicemen.

The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were occupied by the Soviet Union and did not gain independence until 1990 and 1991. They have minority Russian populations and fear military intervention after Mr Putin annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Marko Mihkelson, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in Estonia’s parliament, said Mr