Russia put the Prime Minister of Estonia on the wanted list 0
(Dan Tri) – Russian police have put Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, the country’s foreign minister and the Lithuanian Minister of Culture on the wanted list.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Photo: Bloomberg).
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced today, February 13, that Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and a number of other officials in the Baltic countries are wanted for insulting historical memory and having a hostile attitude towards Russia.
`These people must be held responsible for decisions that amount to insulting historical memory,` Mr. Peskov said.
According to Mr. Peskov, Baltic politicians are also `committing hostile actions towards both historical memory and the Russian nation`.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Estonian Foreign Minister Taimar Peterkop and Lithuanian Culture Minister Simonas Kairys appeared on the Russian Interior Ministry’s wanted list.
Law enforcement sources told Tass news agency (Russia) that criminal proceedings have been launched against Baltic officials for destroying and damaging monuments to Soviet soldiers.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed that the politicians had been added to the wanted list `for destroying monuments to Soviet soldiers`.
`Crimes against the memory of those who liberated the world from fascism must be punished. And this is just the beginning,` Ms. Zakharova emphasized.
The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs’ database of wanted people shows that the Estonian Prime Minister is `wanted under the Criminal Code`, accompanied by a photo of this leader.
The Russian Investigative Committee last September indicted in absentia more than 170 foreign citizens, including citizens of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and Ukraine, in cases of desecration and destruction of monuments to military personnel.
Russian authorities have opened 16 criminal cases and investigated 143 cases of desecration, destruction or damage to graves, monuments and memorials of Soviet soldiers.
The Baltic states were formerly part of the Soviet Union, but have now announced plans to destroy Soviet-era monuments.
In response, the head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, ordered a criminal investigation into the incident.
According to Reuters, Baltic politicians risk being arrested when they cross the Russian border, otherwise declaring them wanted would have no real consequences.
Last month, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas announced that the Estonian Intelligence Agency VLA believes that NATO has 3-5 years to prepare for a conflict scenario with Russia.
Also in January, Estonia, a country that used to belong to the former Soviet state and shares a border with Russia, pledged $1.3 billion in aid to Kiev until 2027. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also made a trip.
