The incident occurred at the Slava Ukraina restaurant in Tallinn's Telliskivi district on January 31. At the time, owner Mart Luik told ERR that camera footage clearly showed it was a deliberate act: "It was arson, they smashed the windows."

The defendants, two Moldovan men in their 30s both named Ivan Chihaial, were caught by law enforcement agencies in Italy on February 11, Harju County Court heard on Wednesday (July 2), Eesti Ekspress reported. The Prosecutors' Office later confirmed the men are cousins.

The newspaper wrote that the younger Chihaial, born in 1992, admitted to participating in and supporting intelligence activities directed against Estonia by carrying out two counts of arson.

Under a plea agreement, he told the Prosecutor's Office that he established ties with individuals connected to the GRU – the foreign military intelligence agency of the Russian Armed Forces – in summer 2024 and was tasked with setting fire to a Coop supermarket in Osula village, Võru County.

He carried out the act on the store on January 17, which is located around 10 kilometers from the Nursipalu military training area.

Chihaial filmed the act, as requested by those who hired him, left Estonia, and then, six days later, received €1,702 in cryptocurrency which the Prosecutor's Office believes originated from the GRU.

Eesti Ekspress reported he was then approached the next day by the GRU to attack the Slava Ukraina restaurant.

The younger man then enlisted the help of the older Chihaial and they traveled to Estonia between January 27-29 to collect data about the restaurant and conducted a visual inspection.

At 4:30 a.m. on January 31, the older Chihaial smashed the window, threw a can of gasoline into the restaurant, and then lit a fire. The younger accomplice filmed the act from across the road, which was then later uploaded onto YouTube by the GRU.

The younger Chihaial will serve six and a half years in prison, while the older Ivan Chihaial (born 1987), who was only involved with the Tallinn arson, was handed a six-month sentence as it was not clear that he knew the incident was connected to Russian intelligence.

Attacks aim to polarize and divide society

Since February 2023, Russia has been preparing attacks in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania targeting monuments, people, and property, the Prosecutor's Office said in a statement. Last year, the car windows of the interior minister and a Russian journalist were smashed, and war memorials were vandalised.

"The aim of the attacks is to polarize and divide society and to sow fear and mistrust. Thus, this attack was also directed against the security of the Republic of Estonia," State Prosecutor Triinu Olev-Aas said.

The Internal Security Service has observed that it is becoming increasingly difficult for Russian intelligence services to recruit operatives in Estonia, including among dual citizens living near the border. Estonian society supports Ukraine, which makes it harder for Russian services to find attackers in Estonia.

"This time, Moldovans imprisoned for robbery in Russia were recruited to perform their dirty duties. As before, the Russian special services' tools were quickly apprehended," commented Harrys Puusepp, head of the ISS' office.

In May, the Prosecutors' Office called for stricter laws to deter future sabotage attacks by Russian security services.

This story was updated to correct Harrys Puusepp's comments.

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