‘We will not be intimidated,’ Estonian PM says after attributing recent arson attack to Russia
Estonia’s prime minister Kristen Michal does not seem to be convinced by Russia’s denials.
Minutes after we got a response from the Kremlin, he posted on X:
“The arson attack against Milrem Robotics was ordered by Russian special services.
This is part of Russia’s broader campaign across Europe to intimidate us and weaken our support for Ukraine. It will not work.
Our response will be the opposite: stronger security at home, more support for Ukraine and greater pressure on Russia.
We will not be intimidated.”
The Estonian government also published a handy summary of the case so far:
“The criminal investigation into the exact circumstances of the incident is continuing, but the preliminary information gathered so far in the criminal proceedings also indicates that the attack was commissioned. The suspects believed to have directly carried out the arson attack have been apprehended and taken into custody and no longer pose a threat.
On the night of 15 August, a fire broke out in a building used by defence industry company Milrem Robotics on Betooni Street in Tallinn’s Lasnamäe district. Emergency services responded immediately and the fire was quickly brought under control. No lives were in danger.
On 17 August, two Latvian citizens suspected of carrying out the arson attack were detained in Latvia. A third suspect was detained on 18 August. Searches of locations associated with the suspects in Latvia resulted in the seizure of numerous data storage devices and items that may have been used to set fire to the building.
On 17–18 September, Latvia handed over all three suspects to Estonia.”
Key events
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‘Proliferation of hostile acts reflects a dangerous escalation on part of Russia,’ Macron says
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‘We will not be intimidated,’ Estonian PM says after attributing recent arson attack to Russia
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Kremlin rejects Estonia’s attribution of arson attack on defence company to Russia
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Nato’s top figures focus on pushing back against Russia’s attempt to undermine support for Ukraine – snap analysis
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Rutte, Sinkevičius warn against Russia’s ‘campaign of hostile actions’ to test Nato’s resolve – summary
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Rutte says Nato has ‘options’ when responding to hybrid attacks
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Lithuania’s PM pushes back against warnings of imminent threat from Russia
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Keep calm and carry on supporting Ukraine, Rutte tells allies
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‘Russia’s actions are becoming increasingly hostile and less restrained,’ Lithuanian PM warns
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‘Russia continues its reckless campaign of hostile actions against Nato allies,’ Rutte warns
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Drone incursions into Nato territory show ‘evolving nature of the threat,’ Rutte says
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Two foreign vessels hits in overnight Russian strikes on Ukraine, Zelenskyy says
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‘Russia’s fingerprints are all over’ this, Lithuanian foreign minister responds to Estonia’s arson attack attribution
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Arson attack ‘consistent with other acts of sabotage carried out in Europe on behalf of Russia,’ Estonia says
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Estonia’s arson attack attribution to Russia ‘extremely serious,’ Sweden’s caretaker PM says
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Estonia summons Russia’s chargé d’affaires over arson attack on a robotics company
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Europe is one of the most exposed regions on diesel, energy chief warns
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Morning opening: Russia hits port facilities in Odesa
‘Proliferation of hostile acts reflects a dangerous escalation on part of Russia,’ Macron says
France’s Emmanuel Macron is the latest European leader to respond to Estonia’s decision to attribute a recent arson attack to Russia.
“I express our full solidarity with Estonia, which has just attributed to Russia the responsibility for a fire targeting a defence sector company.
A few weeks ago, Germany did the same for a very serious incident at Leipzig airport.
The proliferation of these hostile acts reflects a dangerous escalation on the part of Russia, which will only lead it into a dead end.
Russia must know that it will not prevail over either our unity or our determination to continue supporting Ukraine.”
‘We will not be intimidated,’ Estonian PM says after attributing recent arson attack to Russia
Estonia’s prime minister Kristen Michal does not seem to be convinced by Russia’s denials.
Minutes after we got a response from the Kremlin, he posted on X:
“The arson attack against Milrem Robotics was ordered by Russian special services.
This is part of Russia’s broader campaign across Europe to intimidate us and weaken our support for Ukraine. It will not work.
Our response will be the opposite: stronger security at home, more support for Ukraine and greater pressure on Russia.
We will not be intimidated.”
The Estonian government also published a handy summary of the case so far:
“The criminal investigation into the exact circumstances of the incident is continuing, but the preliminary information gathered so far in the criminal proceedings also indicates that the attack was commissioned. The suspects believed to have directly carried out the arson attack have been apprehended and taken into custody and no longer pose a threat.
On the night of 15 August, a fire broke out in a building used by defence industry company Milrem Robotics on Betooni Street in Tallinn’s Lasnamäe district. Emergency services responded immediately and the fire was quickly brought under control. No lives were in danger.
On 17 August, two Latvian citizens suspected of carrying out the arson attack were detained in Latvia. A third suspect was detained on 18 August. Searches of locations associated with the suspects in Latvia resulted in the seizure of numerous data storage devices and items that may have been used to set fire to the building.
On 17–18 September, Latvia handed over all three suspects to Estonia.”
Kremlin rejects Estonia’s attribution of arson attack on defence company to Russia
Meanwhile, the Kremlin rejected what it called Estonia’s “baseless” accusation that Russia ordered an arson attack on an Estonian defence company in August (10:10).
“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 spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to an AFP question.
How could anyone ever think that Russia could do this, right? Right?
Nato’s top figures focus on pushing back against Russia’s attempt to undermine support for Ukraine – snap analysis
Jakub Krupa
Rutte’s comments there are (perhaps not surprisingly) very much aligned with what Nato’s top commander Alexus Grynkewich told EU lawmakers last night.
In a rare appearance at the European parliament, Grynkewich warned that “the goal of the Russian activity right now is primarily to break our will to continue supporting Ukraine.”
As reported yesterday, he said:
“The logic of this is if we make the security situation seem dire enough, populations will want nations to withhold from Ukraine for their own protection. …
If there is a hybrid attack on your country, reinforcing the will to support Ukraine will show the Russians that their strategy isn’t working, and maybe have them back off that strategy.”
Top Nato figures appear to be focused on very publicly calling Russia’s tactics out in a bid to stop Moscow from succeeding and having any impact on social attitudes towards helping Ukraine – particularly ahead of 2027, with big elections coming up in France, Italy, Poland and Spain.
Rutte, Sinkevičius warn against Russia’s ‘campaign of hostile actions’ to test Nato’s resolve – summary
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Nato secretary general Mark Rutte has urged allies to keep calm and carry on supporting Ukraine, saying Russia is “failing to undermine” the alliance’s support for Kyiv despite growing number of sabotage, drone incidents against Nato (11:07).
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Rutte warned that Russia “continues its reckless campaign of hostile actions against Nato allies,” trying to “weaken our resolve and stop our support for Ukraine” (10:57).
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His comments came at a press conference with Lithuania’s prime minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius who warned that Russia’s actions are “becoming increasingly hostile and less restrained” (10:59).
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But Sinkevičius pushed back against recent warnings from Denmark, Poland and Germany about a potential imminent threat, saying there is no evidence of Russia “getting ready” (11:10).
Rutte says Nato has ‘options’ when responding to hybrid attacks
Pushed a bit further on hybrid attacks, Rutte acknowledges they “are having an impact,” but repeats his point that Nato has “all the response options: sometimes visible, sometimes not.”
He also says it’s important to, whenever possible on the basis of available evidence, publicly attribute these incidents to Russia, as Estonia did today.
“I applaud it,” he says.
He says Nato is acting “in the spirit of staying calm, carrying on.”
“We are stronger and they know it.”
And that concludes the press conference.
Lithuania’s PM pushes back against warnings of imminent threat from Russia
Lithuania’s Sinkevičius says Russia “seeks to spread fear, to bring division … but it will not succeed.”
“We are not shaking [with fear]; we are doing what is meant to be done,” he says.
He says countries also do a lot of work in the background that is not publicly seen.
He says it’s important to be open about the challenges posed by Russia, but pushes back against “exaggerations” that something could happen within “upcoming months of weeks.”
“Is there any proof, real proof, that our intelligence services are providing … that Russia is getting ready or something? There is actually none,” he says, stressing “the risk remains,” but it’s not deemed to be escalating at the moment.
He adds “we have to … calmly do our work and we are doing that.”
Keep calm and carry on supporting Ukraine, Rutte tells allies
Rutte gets asked about various recent sabotage actions against Nato allies, including the UK, Germany, and Lithuania.
Should we stop calling them hybrid threats and call them what they are, he is asked. And does he agree with warnings coming from several countries about “decisive weeks and months” ahead?
Rutte says he agrees with the criticism of the phrase “hybrid threat,” as “it sounds a bit cuddly,” and does not reflect the severity of the threat.
But he says the key thing is that Nato “has all the response options we need,” even if “you will not always see them publicly.”
He says allies do a lot to counter the Russian threat.
“I would urge some calm, because we are investing in our defence [and] Russia is not in a good place,” he says.
He adds allies should “carry on, keep the support for Ukraine going, because the best response to any action in this grey zone of what Russia is doing is more support for Ukraine.”
Rutte says “we should not be naive about Russia,” but adds “they know we are stronger and we have to make sure by carrying on with our investments that we are also stronger in two, three, five years from now.”
‘Russia’s actions are becoming increasingly hostile and less restrained,’ Lithuanian PM warns
Sinkevičius is up next, as he thanks Rutte for today’s talks.
He warns that “the security [situation] in Europe is challenging,” as Russia’s actions are becoming increasingly hostile and less restrained.”
“We see the hybrid attacks: in Lithuania, Poland, Germany, elsewhere. And it’s not a question of proximity now; it’s a question of Russia’s actions.”
He says Lithuania leads the way in Nato as one of the top defence spenders, above 5% of GDP, and invites Rutte to a formal ceremony marking the permanent deployment of a German brigade to Lithuania in 2027.
‘Russia continues its reckless campaign of hostile actions against Nato allies,’ Rutte warns
Rutte continues saying that “Russia continues its reckless campaign of hostile actions against Nato allies.”
He says:
“[Russia] is trying to weaken our resolve and stop our support for Ukraine. But Russia is failing. It is failing on a battlefield in Ukraine, and it is failing to undermine our unity and support for Ukraine.
Our message to Moscow is clear: we will do even more for Ukraine and not less.”
