Estonia concluded that the August arson attack was commissioned by Russian security services.
Russia denied involvement, while Western officials cited the act as part of a wider European sabotage campaign.
The incident unfolds amid growing regional tensions.
Estonian Authorities Blame Russia For Attacks On Arson of Country's Defence Company
Estonia’s Prime Minister Kristen Michal said that investigations suggest that the fire was caused by an attack commissioned by Russian security services.
Summary
Estonian authorities on Tuesday said that they have concluded the investigation of an August fire at Estonian defence company Milrem Robotics, a supplier of unmanned ground vehicles to Ukraine. The authorities have revealed that the fire was caused by an arson attack commissioned by Russian security services. Prime Minister Kristen Michal said the conclusion of the investigation was based on information gathered by Estonia's Internal Security Service KAPO.
Estonia did not publish the evidence, citing the confidentiality of security services, but stated the incident was consistent with other sabotage conducted on Russia's behalf in Europe. Estonia stated the attack fit a broader pattern. It stated the incident was consistent with other sabotage operations conducted on Russia's behalf across Europe.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the case was "extremely serious" and that Sweden stood fully behind the Baltic nation. Western officials have accused Moscow of running a campaign of sabotage and disruption aimed at undermining support for Ukraine and destabilising European nations.
Russia has denied any role in the attack. Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “such statements are unfounded, ill-considered, absolutely not reflecting the reality, not containing any substantiation whatsoever.” “We cannot take such statements seriously, and we won’t,” Peskov said.
Earlier on August 15, a fire broke out at a building in the Estonian capital used by Milrem Robotics at night. The fire was quickly brought under control, by the fire control units. Two days later, on Aug. 17, two Latvian suspects were detained. These suspects were detained in Latvia. One more suspect was detained the next day. The suspects were handed over to Estonia.
Amid the war between Russia and Ukraine, President Putin has ordered the expansion of the army. His order will increase the size of the army to 1.5 million active servicemen. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed on his X (formerly Twitter) handle that there were now more than 8,000 North Korean soldiers on Russian territory and preparations were under way to deploy another 10,000 troops.
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Pope Leo urged Russia and Ukraine to sit down and discuss how to end their war on Monday, hours after he had urged European leaders seeking to end conflicts to make concessions to achieve peace. He made the remarks at a press conference aboard his flight to Rome after a four-day trip to France. The comments linked his wider peace message in Europe to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
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