Estonian security services had broken up a Russian influence operation and arrested 10 people related to it, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday.
The operation involved damaging property and defacing monuments, as well as attacks on the cars of Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets and editor of the news website Delfi in Estonia.
“We know the Kremlin is targeting all of our democratic societies. Our answer: be open and reveal their methods,” Kallas wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
State Prosecutor Triinu Olev said 10 people were arrested, including both Russian nationals and dual Russian-Estonian citizens.
The Russian operation aimed at spreading fear and creating tension in Estonian society but failed to do so, the Estonian Internal Security Service said. The perpetrators of the acts of vandalism were often recruited via social media, according to the service.
Lithuania’s State Security Department (VSD) also said on Tuesday that Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian security and law enforcement authorities cooperated to arrest persons in both Estonia and Latvia who acted at the behest of Russia.
Reportedly, Latvia’s State Security Service (VDD) detained a dual Estonian-Russian citizen for pouring red paint on a World War II memorial to Latvian soldiers who fought the Soviet Red Army. VDD launched a criminal case against the individual for assisting Russian intelligence in an action directed against Latvia.
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