- Estonia’s internal security authorities announced the arrest of 10 suspects involved in the sabotage and inciting fear and tension.
- Estonia’s Internal Security Service suggested that the operation was coordinated by Russian special services to spread fear and tension in Estonian society.
- Russia has shown great interest in the internal affairs of Estonia and its Baltic neighbors.
Estonia’s internal security authorities announced on Tuesday that a coordinated “hybrid operation” by Russian special forces had arrested 10 people on suspicion of sabotage and spreading fear and provoking tensions in the Baltic country.
Estonia’s Internal Security Service said suspects detained between December and February included a man believed to have smashed the car window of Interior Minister Lauri Ränemetz and a local journalist in December. .
“Information currently being collected in the criminal proceedings indicates that Russian special forces were coordinating a hybrid operation against the security of the Republic of Estonia involving detained suspects,” the statement said. “As far as the Estonian Internal Security Service knows, the aim was to spread fear and create tension in Estonian society.”
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Relations between Estonia and neighboring Russia have been in an ice age since independence in 1991. As a legacy of the Soviet Union, the country of 1.3 million people, now a member of NATO and the European Union, has a sizable ethnic Russian minority.
View of Tallinn, Estonia, January 4, 2023. Estonia’s internal security authorities announced on Tuesday that a coordinated “hybrid operation” by Russian special forces had arrested 10 people on suspicion of sabotage, spreading fear and provoking tensions in the Baltic states. service. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
State prosecutor Triinu Olef said the suspects were being held pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings.
Security officials said the suspects carried out various roles in Estonia at the direction of their Russian counterparts. Officials said some focused on gathering intelligence, while others planned and carried out attacks.
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Margo Palosson, head of Estonia’s security services, said some of the suspects who vandalized undisclosed monuments were scouted in the following ways: Social media.
A security official said: “We are unable to discuss these incidents in further detail as procedures are currently underway to verify the charges and confirm key facts.”
Moscow has maintained a keen interest in the internal affairs of Estonia and its Baltic neighbors Latvia and Lithuania, particularly the security and military issues since the three countries joined NATO and the European Union in 2004.
