Estonia’s government said Tuesday that an August arson attack on a building used by defense contractor Milrem Robotics in Tallinn was sabotage commissioned by Russian special services, ERR News (opens in new tab) and the BBC reported. The Kremlin rejected the accusation as baseless. Milrem supplies THeMIS unmanned ground vehicles to Ukraine, according to ERR, Estonia’s public broadcaster.
“Today, we can state with full confidence that the arson attack on Milrem in Estonia on the night of August 15 was an act of sabotage commissioned by the special services of the Russian Federation,” Prime Minister Kristen Michal said, according to ERR, adding that the Internal Security Service reached that conclusion after assessing the information it had gathered. The BBC reported that Michal gave no details. Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna called the attack “part of Russia's broader campaign across Europe, aimed at intimidating us and weakening our support for Ukraine,” according to the BBC and Euronews (opens in new tab), and Euronews (opens in new tab) reported that Estonia summoned the Russian ambassador.
According to ERR, the fire broke out on the night of Aug. 15 in a building used by Milrem Robotics on Betooni Street in Tallinn’s Lasnamäe district and was quickly brought under control; no lives were in danger. The BBC dated the attack to the night of Aug. 14-15. Two Latvian citizens suspected of setting the fire were detained in Latvia on Aug. 17 and a third the next day, and Latvia handed all three to Estonia on Sept. 17-18, ERR reported. Internal Security Service chief Margo Palloson said the suspects were Latvians who had been living in Russia and had taken part in previous attacks, the BBC reported. ERR said the criminal investigation is continuing and that preliminary information from it also indicates the attack was commissioned.
Russia denies the accusation. “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, according to Euronews (opens in new tab). Russia denies allegations that it is behind sabotage attacks in NATO countries helping Ukraine, the BBC reported.
European governments backed Estonia. French President Emmanuel Macron said “the multiplication of these hostile acts represents a dangerous escalation by Russia, which will only lead it into a dead end,” according to the BBC’s translation. European Commission spokesperson Christian Wigand said, “We stand by Estonia on this reckless attack,” Euronews (opens in new tab) reported. NATO chief Mark Rutte said Russia “continues its reckless campaign of hostile actions against NATO allies” but is “failing to undermine our unity and support for Ukraine,” according to Euronews (opens in new tab), and urged allies to stay calm. Speaking alongside Rutte, Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said intelligence services had no proof that Moscow was preparing something bigger in the near term, Euronews (opens in new tab) reported.
The BBC reported that in August alone, Russia was accused or suspected of involvement in several incidents in Europe, including an explosive-laden drone found near Ukrainian cargo planes at Leipzig airport in Germany, a warehouse fire at a defense firm in Bulgaria and an attempted arson attack on a Ukrainian-owned drone manufacturer in Slovakia. Palloson said Russian services continue trying to recruit people in Europe for sabotage and that defense companies and organizations supporting Ukraine face an elevated threat, according to ERR.