Estonia has dismantled a Russian spy network. The 16 members of the group were detained by the Security Service (KAPO) in Tallinn, as Moscow increasingly turned to social networks and lower-level recruits to carry out hostile activities in the Baltic state.
After presenting the annual report of the institution on the security environment, KAPO’s spokeswoman, Marta Tuul, spoke about a record number of people accused of espionage, specifying that these are connected with the activities of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia and the military intelligence agency GRU.
“Given that Russian intelligence services cannot operate on Estonian territory, they are looking for other options. They are seeking so-called easy-to-use agents who would carry out certain tasks on their behalf. But this record year shows that they are not succeeding,” said the official.
The general director of Kapo, Margo Palloson, stated that the pressure from Russian services to recruit agents remained high throughout the year, notes Antena3.
“Since the beginning of last year, we have identified and thwarted the activities of 16 collaborators of the Russian special services. The vast majority were ordinary people, who did not work in government institutions and did not have access to sensitive information,” said the official.
The official stated that Russian agents had been detained before they could cause damage to the state. According to the KAPO report, Russia has increasingly shifted its influence operations towards social networks, after Estonia took action against the Kremlin’s propaganda media channels.
The Kremlin is seeking spies through social networks and uses them for simple tasks, including vandalism, the KAPO report further shows. At the same time, Estonians are warned about the risks of traveling to Russia, it being mentioned that the recruitment of future spies begins at border crossing points.
Furthermore, the Estonian authorities warn that through social networks, false narratives are being promoted, including information about alleged mining and attacks.