Russia puts Baltic officials on wanted list as Estonia warns of war plans
Al Jazeera
As Estonian PM Kaja Kallas is targeted by Russian police, intel chief warns Russian war on West coming in ‘next decade’.
Russia has put top officials from the Baltic states on its wanted list as tension continues to simmer amid the war in Ukraine.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday that Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and two other top Baltic officials have been added to the country’s wanted list. The move coincided with the release of an Estonian intelligence report warning that Russia is gearing up to wage war on the West in the coming decade.
Kallas, Estonian State Secretary Taimar Peterkop and Lithuanian Culture Minister Simonas Kairys have been listed on the interior ministry’s database due to the “destruction” of monuments to Soviet soldiers.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have removed numerous Soviet-era memorials since they gained independence as the Soviet Union broke up in 1991. That process, which had already soured relations with Moscow, has gained momentum since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Following up, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Kallas of conducting hostile actions against Russia. Like her counterparts in Latvia and Lithuania, the Estonian leader is among Europe’s most outspoken supporters of Ukraine.
