The man was reportedly caught red-handed by Russian security services while receiving documents from a Russian citizen.
The Estonian Consul in St. Petersburg, Russia, was arrested for obtaining “classified documents”, Announced Tuesday, July 6 the Russian security services (FSB) against the background of the proliferation of espionage cases between Moscow and the West.
Read also :Russian and Belarusian spies to step up cooperation against the West
«FSB arrested Estonian diplomat and consul in St. Petersburg Mart Lätte red-handed as he received classified documents from Russian citizen“, Indicated the security services, quoted by the Russian news agencies. “Such a gesture is incompatible with the status of a diplomatic employee and has a clearly hostile character towards Russia. Measures will be taken towards the foreign diplomat in accordance with the norms of international law», Continued the FSB.
Estonian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Aari Lemmik told AFP she was accused of “totally unfounded“And called the diplomat’s arrest”provocation»Russian. “This is another example of the fact that Russia does not want constructive relations with its neighbors and the European Union.She added.
Rising tensions
Espionage cases have multiplied in recent years between Moscow and the West, as tensions continue to rise since the Ukrainian crisis and the annexation of Crimea in 2014. In April, the Ukrainian consul in Saint -Petersburg, Alexander Sossoniouk, had been arrested by the FSB for having tried to obtain secret information and had been asked to leave Russian territory. Russia has been accused of multiple espionage cases in several European countries, which each time led to cross-expulsions of diplomats.
Tensions are particularly strong in Europe between Russia and the Czech Republic, which accuses Moscow of being behind deadly explosions that destroyed an ammunition depot on its territory in 2014.
– .
