Estonia has accused Russia of ordering an arson attack on Milrem Robotics, an Estonian defence company that supplies unmanned ground vehicles to Ukraine.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on Tuesday that an investigation had established that the fire in Tallinn in August was an act of sabotage allegedly ordered by Russian intelligence services.
“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,” Tsahkna said in a statement posted on X.
He said the suspects had been arrested and no longer posed a threat. Estonia also summoned the Russian ambassador following the incident.
Tsahkna described the attack as part of what he called Russia’s wider campaign of hostile activities across Europe aimed at intimidating European countries and weakening their support for Ukraine.
However, the Kremlin rejected Estonia’s accusation. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the claim as baseless and said it had “absolutely no relation to reality.”
Estonia, a member of both the European Union and NATO, has accused Moscow of several alleged hybrid activities since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte backed Estonia, saying Russia was continuing what he described as a campaign of hostile actions against NATO members.
“Russia continues its reckless campaign of hostile actions against NATO allies,” Rutte said, adding that Moscow was seeking to weaken Western unity and support for Ukraine.
Several European leaders also expressed solidarity with Estonia and condemned the attack.
French President Emmanuel Macron said France stood fully behind Estonia, while Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said there were indications linking Russia to the incident.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson described Estonia’s attribution of the attack to Russia as “extremely serious”, saying the pattern of such incidents appeared to target Europe more broadly.
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