Estonian Prime Minister stops hybrid operation of Russian special services
Kyiv • UNN
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas says her country has successfully stopped a Russian hybrid operation by detaining 10 people accused of damaging government vehicles on behalf of Russian special services.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that her country has successfully stopped a hybrid operation of Russian special services in Estonia after the detention of 10 people, UNN reports.
Estonia has successfully stopped a hybrid operation of Russian special services on our territory. We know that the Kremlin is targeting all our democratic societies. Our response is to expose and reveal their methods. This is the way to prevent harmful actions and make us resilient
The Estonian prime minister indicated that it was an operation of the Estonian Internal Security Service.
The Estonian Internal Security Service (ISS) has announced that it has identified the people who damaged the cars of the Minister of the Interior and a journalist last year. A total of 10 people were detained as part of the criminal investigation. ISS believes that they acted on the orders of Russian special services.
Today, ISS said that the goal of the hybrid operation was to "sow fear and create tension in Estonian society.
Evidence suggests that the suspects performed various roles on the instructions of Russian special services. For example, they gathered information necessary for the attacks and then carried them out, ERR points out.
The suspects were detained in Estonia between December and February. The latest arrests were made last week. The detainees are reportedly Russian and Estonian citizens. In addition, some have dual citizenship.
Context
In early December 2023, the car window of the Estonian Minister of the Interior and chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Lauri Laenemets, was broken.