Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna accused Russia of “sabotage” on Tuesday following an arson attack on the premises of defence company, Milrem Robotics, which occurred in August.
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“We can conclude with certainty that the arson attack…in Tallinn was an act of sabotage ordered by the special services of the Russian Federation,” he wrote in a post on X.
He added that the perpetrators of the attack had been apprehended and “no longer pose a threat” and that Estonia had summoned the Russian ambassador.
“This act of sabotage is part of Russia’s broader campaign across Europe, aimed at intimidating us and weakening our support for Ukraine,” Tsahkna wrote.
Estonia, an EU and NATO member state along the alliance’s eastern flank, has accused Russia of several “hybrid” provocations since the beginning of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Along with its neighbours, Latvia and Lithuania, it has ramped up its investment in defence in the years since and remains a staunch ally of Kyiv.
News of the attack prompted messages of solidarity from across Europe.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Johan Wadephul slammed what he called “Russia’s reckless act of hostility and said Estonia had full solidarity from Berlin.
And Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called the attack “extremely serious.”
“This pattern of attacks is directed against Europe as a whole. The aim is to weaken our support for Ukraine and to intimidate us. It will not work,” he said in a post on X.
The Kremlin rejected what it called Estonia’s “baseless” accusation that Russia ordered the arson attack in Tallinn.
“Such statements are baseless, ill-considered, have absolutely no relation to reality and lack any form of reasoning. Consequently, we cannot and will not take such statements seriously,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Warning from NATO
Russian President Vladimir Putin is becoming “increasingly cavalier, dangerous and risk accepting,” as his war in Ukraine drags on and as he seeks to divide Western allies, NATO’s deputy commander in Europe said last week.
Air Chief Marshal Sir John Stringer warned that Moscow is planning to test NATO’s collective defence pact with bolder attacks that have already included sabotage and espionage.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said last week that Russia might target NATO nations with deliberate drone or missile strikes while claiming they were accidental.
French President Emmanuel Macron agreed and has asked his government to prepare a plan to protect critical infrastructure against potential drone attacks and cyberattacks.
Other European officials say the threat from Russia is serious but have called for calm.
European countries have already faced multiple incursions by Russian drones as well as a campaign of covert Russian disruption which began after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told the AP in Iowa that Putin “knows that the United States and Europe are totally intertwined.”
“We have to make sure that we are prepared, we are strong, and he knows it. And if he does anything silly, he knows our reaction will be tough,” Rutte said.
Putin trying to break NATO support for Ukraine, leaders say
Putin, Stringer said, is “looking at a whole number of things” to try to create division between NATO allies because his campaign in Ukraine is going badly.
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal likened the Russian leader to a “rat in the corner,” who is escalating activity in Europe in an attempt to break Western support for Kyiv at a time when Moscow is under pressure.
Putin is trying to undermine NATO’s collective defence pact by testing nations with covert attacks that are hard to attribute, Michal said.
But the Estonian leader said it’s currently “improbable,” that Putin will launch a conventional military attack on Europe because of the threat of a NATO response and because his forces are tied down in Ukraine.
The high level of malign activity from Russia is “here to stay” until Putin changes his military goals, Michal said, adding that the best way to deter him is to “back Ukraine.”
Additional sources • AFP
