Estonia has accused Russia of ordering an arson attack on Milrem Robotics, a Tallinn-based defence company that supplies Ukraine with unmanned ground vehicles. Prime Minister Kristen Michal said the fire, which broke out on the night of 14-15 August, was ordered by Russian special services. Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said Estonia's Internal Security Service (Kapo) had enough information to conclude "with certainty" that it was an act of sabotage. Moscow denies any involvement and has dismissed the claim as not worth taking seriously.

Estonia has not published evidence, saying the intelligence must remain confidential, and the criminal investigation is still ongoing. Three suspects were arrested in Latvia within days of the fire and were later extradited to Estonia. Kapo chief Margo Palloson said they were Latvians who had been living in Russia and had taken part in earlier attacks. Their equipment and devices were seized. Palloson said Russia is constantly seeking people to carry out attacks, and that this was its first successful one in Estonia this year. He warned that recruits may be misled with false justifications meant to hide the Russian state's role. Estonia has also summoned Russia's representative in the country.

Milrem makes unmanned vehicles, including the tracked THeMIS robot, which can be used for transport, reconnaissance and, when armed, combat. The company has an assembly line in the Netherlands and is reported to be due to deliver 150 units to Ukraine this year.

The accusation comes amid a string of incidents in Europe. In August alone, Russia was accused or suspected in connection with a drone carrying explosives found near Ukrainian cargo planes at Leipzig airport in Germany, a warehouse fire at a defence firm in Bulgaria, an explosion at a munitions factory near Rome, an attempted arson attack on a Ukrainian-owned drone maker in Slovakia, and suspicious fires in Poland. The Associated Press counts more than 200 incidents linked to Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Such methods are often called hybrid warfare: non-military pressure such as sabotage, cyber-attacks or disinformation. Germany and now Estonia have directly blamed Moscow for an attack on their territory.

European leaders rallied behind Tallinn. French President Emmanuel Macron called the multiplying hostile acts a dangerous escalation that would lead Russia into a dead end. Sweden's prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, called the episode extremely serious, and the EU said it would not stop supporting Ukraine. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Russian actions are becoming more hostile and less restrained, and that hybrid warfare is having an impact, but that Russia is failing to undermine support for Ukraine. He said NATO has all response options, "sometimes visible, sometimes not." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov repeated that the West is at war with Russia. Separately, Moscow renewed a nuclear threat tied to its Kaliningrad exclave, which NATO condemned.

The case matters because Estonia, a small Baltic state and former Soviet republic bordering Russia, sits on the front line of European security concerns. Not all leaders read the threat the same way: Lithuania's prime minister, Mindaugas Sinkevicius, criticised Moscow but said there is no evidence Russia is preparing an imminent military move against a NATO member.