Estonian Intelligence Officer Kidnapped by Russia Now Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for ‘Espionage’

[Valin]

National Review/The Corner:

Andrew Stuttaford

August 19, 2015

 

Eston Kohver, the Estonian intelligence officer dragged into Russia a day or so after Barack Obama’s visit to the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and then jailed in Moscow, has now been sentenced to 15 years for, in a Kafkaesque touch, illegally crossing the Russian border, as well as for espionage and various other charges.

 

The Washington Post:

 

 

Russian security officials claim that Eston Kohver, a decorated officer in Estonia’s security police, slipped into Russia last September with thousands of euros, covert audio equipment, and a pistol to carry out “an undercover operation.”

 

Officials in Estonia, a member of NATO, said that Russian security operatives kidnapped Kohver in a cross-border raid using stun grenades and jamming equipment and dragged him back to Russian territory, where he was arrested.

 

 

(Snip)

 

I blogged at the time about the incident here and here.

 

It could be that the original kidnapping was the result of Kohver discovering too much about cross-border smuggling in that (lightly-populated) area, an activity that—shall we say—supplements the salaries of Russian officials.

 

But, even if that, rather than payback for Obama’s visit, was the reason for the abduction, once Kohver was in Russian hands the opportunity his kidnapping gave Moscow to remind Estonia of its powerlessness (despite that country’s membership of NATO and Obama’s fine words in Tallinn) must have been too much to resist.

 

The Kohver case only underlines the need for NATO to deploy the permanent military presence (a brigade, ideally) in the Baltic region requested by Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. To show weakness in the face of Russian bullying is to ask for something even worse next time. I touched on this topic in the course of a recent article for Prospect. That’s pay-walled, but this Chatham House piece (which is focused more on Latvia) also sets out some of the key issues.

 

(Snip)