Moscow Detains Estonian Consul for Possessing Classified Info
Russian intelligence detains the Estonian consul in St. Petersburg, while the consul was receiving "secret documents" from a Russian citizen.
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Moscow: Measures will be taken against a foreign diplomat in accordance with international law standards.
The Russian Intelligence (FSB) announced on Tuesday the arrest of the Estonian consul in St. Petersburg, Russia, for obtaining "secret documents" in light of recurring cases of espionage between Moscow and Western countries.
Russian news agencies quoted the Russian intelligence services saying that they detained, as part of a serious misdemeanor, the Estonian diplomat and Consul General in Saint Petersburg, Mart Lati, while he was receiving confidential documents from a Russian citizen.
She added that “such activities are incompatible with the status of a diplomatic worker and are openly hostile to Russia.”
Espionage cases have increased in recent years between Moscow and the West following the ongoing tensions since the Ukrainian crisis and the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
In April, the Ukrainian consul in St. Petersburg, Alexander Sosonyuk, was arrested by Russian intelligence for efforts to obtain classified information and was asked to leave Russian territory.
During the same month, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of diplomats from the Estonian embassy and several other diplomats from Lithuania, Latvia, and Slovakia.
