GLASGOW, Scotland — Russian special services were behind the fire at a building used by an Estonian military robotics company last month, the government in Tallinn said on Tuesday.
The finding comes after a six-week investigation by the Estonian Internal Security Service. In a press statement, the government said it could say “with full confidence that the arson attack on the building of defence industry company Milrem … was an act of sabotage commissioned by the special services of the Russian Federation.”
A fire was spotted by residents in a Lasnamäe neighborhood building used by Milrem in the night of Aug. 14-15, and was quickly contained, Estonian media reported at the time. Two Latvian citizens were detained in Latvia on Aug. 17 and a third the next day. They were subsequently handed over to Estonia. Authorities in Tallinn had been investigating the case as suspected sabotage from the start.
Milrem makes the THeMIS unmanned ground vehicle. Over 150 of these robots are to be sent to Ukraine soon, funded by the Dutch government. An initial fifteen were already supporting Ukrainian forces by October 2025. The Estonian company bills itself as the “world leader in the autonomous unmanned ground vehicles domain” on its website. The United Arab Emirates’ state-owned EDGE group has held a majority stake since 2023.
The arson in Tallinn came just ten days after an explosive-laden drone struck a Ukrainian cargo plane, failing to detonate, and a second drone collided with a Boeing 757 in the air at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany, a set of incidents that German authorities have since also connected to Russia. The events are part of an escalating pattern of Russian sabotage and sub-threshold hostile actions against Western countries, particularly those with outsized support for Ukraine, European officials have said.
In response to the finding that Russia was behind the arson attack on Milrem, one of the darlings of Estonia’s budding defense industry, Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said the government was summoning Russia’s Chargé d’affaires.
Prime Minister Kristen Michal called it “absolutely unacceptable and irresponsible” that Russia was resorting to sabotage to intimidate Europe and force it to reduce its support for Ukraine. Estonia would be doing the opposite, said Tsahkna, the foreign minister.
“Together with our allies and partners in Europe and beyond, we will increase pressure on Russia, tighten sanctions, and seek additional ways to restrict the travel of Russian citizens to Europe. We will also continue and strengthen our comprehensive support for Ukraine,” said Tsahkna. All three suspects apprehended in relation to the Milrem fire are reportedly Latvian nationals.
A similar case of arson near the Rohde & Schwarz and Helsing offices in Munich, Germany, on Sept. 3 led to the arrest of two Bulgarian nationals. German press agency dts has reported that authorities suspect Russia’s military-intelligence service GRU to be behind the arson.
“Estonian security authorities are closely monitoring Russia’s activities and cooperate closely with both Estonian companies and international partners to prevent such incidents,” said Margo Palloson, the head of the ISS, Estonia’s interior intelligence agency. “Estonia is a safe country and our goal is to ensure that it remains so.”
Defense companies and organizations working in support of Ukraine would continue to face “elevated threat,” and Russia will continue to “recruit and influence people in Europe, including for the purpose of carrying out acts of sabotage,” Palloson said.
In response to the Estonian attribution, Kremlin spokesperson Dimitry Peskov told reporters that “we cannot and will not take such statements seriously.” The accusations were “baseless” and with “absolutely no relation to reality,” Peskov said.
