Center rejects these claims, saying if anything Bessedin, suspected of colluding with Russian security agencies over many years in undermining Estonia's sovereignty, had had more interaction with the Social Democrats (SDE).

"The sums are enormous," Ossinovski told Vikerraadio, putting the figure at over €800,000 over a 15-year period, for work done by Bessedin for the city government. "And what has Bessedin done for that? Mostly crude party propaganda for the Center Party, while also spreading narratives from Russia that suited the Center Party."

Following the detention of Bessedin last week, the outgoing Tallinn city government began auditing all payments made by the City of Tallinn to Bessedin and also to his family members.

Twenty years of one-party rule in a system as large as the City of Tallinn has created small Center Party ecosystems where city funds were handled carelessly or even illegally, Ossinovski said.

"Certain understandings and relationships of power and loyalty have developed over a very long time. We are still uncovering such surprises," Ossinovski added when asked why the investigation into Bessedin's long-running activities is only underway now. "It has been difficult to dismantle all of this in just a year and a half," he said, referring to the length of time the SDE-Isamaa-Eesti 200, and until July Reform, coalition has been in office in the capital.

Center and Isamaa began formal Tallinn coalition talks last week, though no deal has yet been struck. "Now the construction of Minsk — in terms of both Russian influence and corruption — is starting all over again," Ossinovski said on this.

Bessedin's father, Aleksander, was recently rehired by the City of Tallinn after losing his job during the restructuring of the Russian Cultural Center, Ossinovski noted. "He lost his job as an adviser to the director of the Russian Cultural Center. We were shocked to discover that immediately after receiving severance pay, he was taken back on the payroll at Kultuurikatel, with the explanation that otherwise no one knew how things worked there."

Center: SDE trying to politicize Bessedin arrest

Center MP and the party's vice-chair Lauri Laats said Monday that SDE are trying to use Bessedin's detention for their own political aims, and called the allegations of Bessedin's close ties to Center "false and absurd."

"Bessedin has repeatedly used his online platforms to sharply criticize the Center Party and its chair, particularly over their support for Ukraine, while instead promoting campaigns for other political forces," Laats said.

In fact, Bessedin's connections to SDE run far deeper, according to Laats. "Just before the local elections, Oleg Bessedin's Facebook group Таллинцы ("Tallinners," in the Cyrillic script) produced a large volume of news about activities of the Lasnamäe district government and district elder Julianna Jurtšenko, adding to the posts that he was working together with the Social Democratic district elder. If Julianna Jurtšenko had any objection to that, she would have had every opportunity to restrict such activity," Laats added.

Laats said companies linked to Bessedin had indeed provided communication services to the City of Tallinn, mediating news about local events, but these were deemed not needed and terminated at the initiative of the Center Party–led city government.

Bessedin's company had also been commissioned for services by, among others, city politicians and MPs Raimond Kaljulaid and Vladimir Svet, former Center members both now of SDE, as well as Reform Party politicians Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski and Jaanus Riibe, Laats said.

Ossinovski rejected as false Center's claims that Bessedin had also produced content for SDE politicians, including Jurtšenko. "Jurtšenko has not commissioned any services from Bessedin," he said.

Bessedin detained as a criminal suspect

Bessedin is a well-known figure in the Russian-speaking community in Tallinn. As well as operating the "Tallinners" Facebook group, his YouTube channel has hundreds of thousands of followers. Both of these accounts have now been suspended.

The Internal Security Service (ISS) detained Bessedin last Tuesday, and a day later the first-tier Harju County Court remanded him in custody for two months. The Prosecutor's Office suspects that at least since 2022 Bessedin has been acting in cooperation with individuals acting in the interests of Russian intelligence services and taking part in Russian information influence operations.

This includes repeatedly and intentionally distributing content from sanctioned Russian media outlets, a violation of EU sanctions and considered a crime against the peace.

He has been remanded in custody as he is viewed as a flight risk, including to Russia.

Bessedin is a so-called gray passport-holder, meaning a person with no citizenship. He is neither a citizen of Estonia nor Russia.

ISS director Harrys Puusepp noted that filing charges required solid evidence in a rule-of-law state, hence the time taken to act in this case. Bessedin has been appointed a lawyer, Natalia Lausmaa, by the state, and has said he does not admit guilt.

Center was in office alone until the last local elections in 2021, after which it entered office with the Social Democrats, Ossinovski's party. Following a successful vote of no confidence in Center leader Mihhail Kõlvart as the city's mayor, a four-party coalition with Ossinovski as mayor entered office.

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