Estonia plans to close road border crossings with Russia after attempted attack on drone maker Threod

Estonia plans to close its road border crossings with Russia from 1 December following an attempted arson attack on Threod Systems, a defence company whose technology supports British military drone programmes. Estonian authorities say the operation was ordered by Russia's military intelligence service, the GRU. Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna announced the planned closures after eight Latvian residents were detained over the attack on the company's premises in Viimsi, near Tallinn.

The attack took place at about 3AM on Saturday. According to Estonian officials, the attackers intended to cause an explosion and set the building alight. Threod's security team intervened and stopped them. No one was injured, and the company's production and delivery capabilities were unaffected.

What is known about the suspects

Margo Palloson, director general of the Estonian Internal Security Service (Kapo), said the perpetrators tried to break windows so that flammable liquids could be poured into the building. He said counter-intelligence work had established that Russia was behind the operation and that the GRU had coordinated it.

Latvian authorities said four of the eight detainees are Latvian citizens and four hold Latvian non-citizen status. Several have previous convictions. Estonian prosecutors have applied to have five of them remanded in custody. Latvia's State Security Service (VDD) said intelligence received in Latvia led to a coordinated operation with Estonia. Searches at nine locations in Latvia uncovered explosive items, pyrotechnics, ammunition, mobile phones and other data storage devices.

Prosecutor General Astrid Asi said preliminary evidence indicated that the suspects had been commissioned to carry out the attack and had travelled to Estonia for that purpose.

Link to British armed forces

Threod's Cata B launcher was used in October in Royal Navy trials aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth. The company also said the UK Ministry of Defence had selected its Cata launcher for the British Army's Asgard one-way attack drone programme, with a contract worth almost £5 million being prepared.

In September, Kapo attributed an August arson attack on Milrem Robotics to Russian intelligence services. Estonian officials say such operations aim to intimidate businesses and obstruct the supply of military equipment to Ukraine.

Political response

Tsahkna said closing the crossings would reduce Russia's ability to conduct hostile activities against Estonia and help curb sanctions circumvention. He has been in contact with his counterparts in Latvia, Lithuania and Finland, and will raise increased pressure on Russia at Monday's meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. Prime Minister Kristen Michal has convened the government's security cabinet for Friday to review the incident and the sabotage threat.