State Prosecutor Triinu Olev said 10 people had been arrested, including both Russian nationals and dual Russian-Estonian citizens; six remain in custody.
The Russian operation aimed to spread fear and create tension in Estonian society but failed to do so, the Estonian Internal Security Service stated.
“Sooner or later, we will catch those who are trying to endanger the security of the Estonian state,” said Margo Palloson, ISS director.
Palloson said the perpetrators of the acts of vandalism were often recruited via social media. “Attentive people have already helped us a lot,” he said, urging the public to report suspicious activities online to the ISS. Russia used locals as its tools and then left them to face the consequences alone, he noted.
Russia disputed the Estonian claims, with Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova telling POLITICO: “These are some mirror-world news. The Estonian regime sponsors [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy’s terrorism, pursues a Russophobic policy, leads the forefront of the sanctions war against our country, and then makes noise over broken windows? It’s a theater of the absurd.”
On Tuesday Estonia’s foreign ministry said it would summon Russia’s top diplomat in the country.
