Tallinn – Estonian intelligence raises the alarm over Russian sabotage against arms companies

TALLINN, 30 September /ATSH-DPA/ – Russia is increasingly targeting European arms companies through “systematic” sabotage efforts and cyberattacks, the head of Estonia’s intelligence service said today.

“Russia’s actions across Europe are clearly systematic,” said Margo Palloson, head of Estonia’s Internal Security Service, in an interview with the broadcaster ETV.

He said the focus is no longer on symbolic targets, that is, on places or objects that have mainly political or symbolic importance, but on arms industry companies, with the aim of preventing military aid from reaching Ukraine.

Palloson said Estonian intelligence has already prevented a considerable number of Russian sabotage attempts and attacks in recent years.

Asked whether the attacks have increased, he said the threat level has been consistently high over the last three years.

However, he warned that the threat level has risen after an increase in incidents involving explosives, citing as an example the prevented attack with a drone loaded with explosives at Leipzig airport in Germany.

Estonia yesterday officially held Russia responsible for an arson attack on the defence equipment manufacturing company “Milrem Robotics”, which builds unmanned military systems that have been used in Ukraine since 2022.

Russia rejected the accusations made by the Estonian authorities.

“We strongly recommend that all defence industry companies, especially those that supply Ukraine with any kind of equipment or material, strengthen their cyber protection measures,” Palloson said.

He said defence sector companies in Estonia are concrete targets of attacks.

Estonia, a Baltic state that is a member of the European Union and NATO and borders Russia, is a close partner country and supporter of Ukraine.

Ukraine has been defending itself against Russia’s full-scale invasion for more than four years.