Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has accused Russia of “sabotage” following an August arson attack on a defence company, Milrem Robotics, a claim the Kremlin rejected. 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. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the allegation.
Consequently, we cannot and will not take such statements seriously,” he told reporters. Estonia, a European Union and NATO member state along the alliance’s eastern flank, has accused Moscow of several hybrid provocations since the beginning of Russia’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.
NATO chief Mark Rutte, speaking to journalists after Estonia’s accusation, said that “Russia continues its reckless campaign of hostile actions against NATO allies. It is trying to weaken our resolve and stop our support for Ukraine”. It is failing on the battlefield in Ukraine, and it is failing to undermine our unity and support for Ukraine,” he added.
The attack was condemned by several of Estonia’s allies, who also reaffirmed their support for Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron said on X that Paris was in full solidarity with Estonia, adding: “The proliferation of these hostile acts reflects a dangerous headlong rush by Russia – one that will only lead it into a dead end.” “Russia’s fingerprints are all over” the attack, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys wrote on X, adding that Moscow’s “hostile activities do not stop at Ukraine’s borders”. Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics added that “more support for Ukraine … will be needed and must be provided”.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called Estonia’s attribution of the attack “extremely serious”, and said the pattern of the attacks was “directed against Europe as a whole”.
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