According to the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA), between 2020 and 2024, seven teenagers have been involved in three murders and one premeditated murder with particular cruelty in Estonia. During that same period, two attempted murders were committed by minors.

In 2025, two people have been killed by teenagers – one incident took place in the spring in Jõgeva followed by last weekend's murder in Raasiku, Harju County.

According to Hisko Vares, head of the PPA Northern Prefecture's personal crimes department, approximately 2,000 cases of physical violence committed by minors have been recorded in Estonia over the past five years.

"Teenage crime is becoming increasingly violent, and a sense of impunity is to blame," said Vares. He pointed out that minors often do not realize they will be punished for crimes the commit if they are not detained immediately.

"If they are not punished immediately, they do not understand that punishment will still follow in any case, and so, they commit new serious crimes," Vares explained.

Anna-Liisa Uisk, head of the development and criminal statistics department at the Ministry of Justice, said that the punishment for serious crimes committed by teenagers in Estonia remains severe. "These kinds of cases are always taken seriously. Although the overall policy is aimed at using alternatives to imprisonment, deprivation of liberty is still applied where necessary."

Experts emphasize that it is particularly important to work with adolescents from disadvantaged families in order to guide them onto the right path.

"Many of these young people grow up in single-parent families and witness violence. If the state or local government does not intervene in time, the situation will repeat itself," added Vares.

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