The Viru County Court, in a plea agreement procedure, found Estonian citizen Ivan Dmitrijev guilty of conducting and supporting intelligence activities directed against the Republic of Estonia, a statement from the Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday afternoon said.

The court sentenced Dmitrijev to four years and eleven months of actual imprisonment. The verdict can be appealed. 

According to the charges, from March to May 2025, Dmitrijev collaborated with FSB Border Service operations officer Aleksandr Bobkov and passed information to the agency for approximately two months. He was arrested on May 16.

Among other things, the FSB was interested in information about members of the EDL and local life in the border city of Narva, where a large number of Russian speakers live. The information included details about the political situation, the Narva Castle Museum, and the presence of Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) personnel in the city.

For the last three years, the museum has hung banners calling President Vladimir Putin a war criminal and comparing him to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler on May 9, Russia's Victory Day, to combat Russian propaganda.

The EDF and EDL hold exercises in Narva and the EDF is planning to open a base in the city in the coming years.

Temporary success for the FSB

State Prosecutor Triinu Olev-Aas said Dmitrijev was an active member of the EDL with a wide range of duties, including operating drones and related activities.

If Dmitrijev had carried on supplying information, he could have caused significant harm to Estonia's security, she added.

However, evidence shows that he cooperated with the FSB for only two months before the Internal Security Service (ISS/KAPO) detained him and prevented further collaboration.

"Russia is keenly interested in all kinds of information that it manages to collect about Estonia. The swift obstruction of criminal offences against the state and bringing people recruited by Russian intelligence authorities to justice is a part of national defence, especially in today's situation," Olev-Aas said in a statement.

Taavi Narits, deputy director general of the Internal Security Service, said Dmitrijev was apprehended at the first opportunity.

"After a training exercise of the Defence League to meet with his spymaster," he said in a statement.

"Recruiting Dmitrijev can be considered the FSB's temporary success story, soon ended by the Internal Security Service and the Prosecutor's Office. We were able to prevent significant harm to our national security by intervening at an early stage. One of the duties of the Internal Security Service is conducting counter-intelligence activities in the Defense Forces and Defense League, and this case highlights the results," he continued.

Prime targets

Narits said people connected with the Estonian security agencies and their relatives who travel to Russia are prime targets for recruitment by Russian intelligence services.

"They use all kinds of methods, such as flattering, pressuring, and scaring, to obtain information that interests them and recruit people for secret cooperation. Initiating cooperation with Russian special services is like stepping into quicksand and there are only two ways of getting oneself out – with the help of the Internal Security Service or through prison, after the time prescribed by the court has passed. Unfortunately, Ivan Dmitrijev chose the latter option," he said.

The Prosecutor's Office said EDF and EDL exercises have always been of interest to Russia, and this has greatly increased since the start of the full-scale invasion.

It said people involved with exercises and national defense are strongly advised to avoid traveling to Russia. They should also report any contact with Russian intelligence services or persons working on their behalf to the Internal Security Service.

Any offers of cooperation from Russian intelligence must be reported to the Internal Security Service at kapo@kapo.ee.

What do we know about Ivan Dmitrijev?

"Ivan Dmitrijev, 24, from Narva, is an entrepreneur, an active member of the local community, and at first glance, a great example of integration," Postimees' Russian language website writes.

The newspaper says Dmitrijev – an Estonian citizen – presented himself as an Estonian patriot and was a member of the Defense League from the age of 16.

While many people in Narva do not speak Estonian, Dmitrijev does, which in Estonia is seen as the highest form of integration.

In approximately 2020, he started the NGO Narva Küberareng, which organizes events and cyber training for the youth of Narva.

"Dmitrijev was exactly the kind of bright-eyed young person who could share his story with Russian-speaking youth and encourage people to join conscription and the Defense League," web portal Delfi writes.

He is also interested in local politics. In 2021, Dmitrijev was a candidate for the electoral alliance Katri Raik's List, an independent MP who is now mayor of Narva, in the local elections.

In 2023, he ran for the Riigikogu as a member of the liberal party Parempoolsed. In a statement on the party's website, Dmitrijev introduced himself as a regional manager for an international freight services exchange company and said that he wants to contribute to the development of culture and sports in Ida-Viru County. He was expelled from the party on October 7, 2025.

His social media profiles show he was a sports enthusiast, regularly posting photos of himself at the gym and participating in Ironman competitions.

"I believe that young people in politics are a powerful force. I consider it very important to work on the integration of Russian-speaking residents of Estonia into society," he wrote.

Immediately after the war began, in February 2022, he condemned Russia's actions but also published an angry post expressing frustration that so few Ukrainians had left Estonia to defend their homeland, Postimees writes.

What is the Estonian Defense League?

The Estonian Defence League (Kaitseliit) is a voluntary, militarily organized national defense organization that trains citizens to defend Estonia's independence and constitutional order.

It operates under the Ministry of Defense and consists of members who receive military training, possess weapons, and conduct exercises to increase Estonia's overall defense readiness.

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