Estonia blames Russian intelligence for fire at defense company helping Ukraine

Estonian authorities said that Russia’s special services ordered the arson attack on the premises of defense company Milrem Robotics in Tallinn. The company produces and supplies Ukraine with unmanned military vehicles.

The incident occurred overnight between August 14 and 15. Estonia’s Prime Minister, Kristen Michal, said the investigation had concluded that Russia’s special services were behind the attack, but she did not make public any further evidence supporting this assessment.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said that information obtained by Estonia’s Internal Security Service, Kapo, provided grounds for describing the fire as “an act of sabotage ordered by the special services of the Russian Federation.”

Three suspects were arrested in Latvia and extradited to Estonia at the beginning of this month. According to Estonian authorities, they are suspected of carrying out the attack.

Kapo Director Margo Palloson said the suspects are Latvian citizens who had lived in Russia and had also been involved in previous incidents.

Palloson said Moscow is continuously seeking people who can carry out sabotage operations in Europe. However, she stressed that the case involving Milrem Robotics was the first successful attack of this kind that Estonian authorities have attributed to Russia this year.

According to Kapo, Russia is exploring new opportunities to carry out sabotage and other hostile acts in European countries.

The head of Estonia’s security service warned that people recruited for these missions could be manipulated or deceived about the true objective of the actions they undertake.

Tsahkna placed the incident within the context of a broader Russian campaign in Europe.

“This act of sabotage is part of Russia’s broader campaign across Europe, aimed at intimidating us and weakening our support for Ukraine,” the Estonian foreign minister said.

Tallinn’s accusations were also backed by several European allies. French President Emmanuel Macron said that the increase in hostile actions represented, in his view, a dangerous escalation.

Macron also referred to the August incident at Leipzig Airport in Germany, where a drone loaded with explosives was found near Ukrainian cargo planes.

“Russia must know that it will not defeat our unity or our determination to continue supporting Ukraine,” the French president said.

A European Union spokesperson said that the EU would continue its assistance to Ukraine. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also called on European countries to remain calm and not halt their support for Kyiv.

Rutte said that Russia was waging a campaign of hostile actions against NATO member states aimed at weakening support for Ukraine.

The Kremlin has denied involvement in the attack. Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, described Estonia’s statements as unfounded and detached from reality.

“We cannot and will not take such statements seriously,” Peskov said.