--- title: "NATO says Russian sabotage campaign is failing to sway allies" description: "Estonia blames Russian intelligence for an August arson attack on drone maker Milrem Robotics as NATO chief Rutte urges calm" author: "rews desk" published: 2026-09-29T09:29:02Z modified: 2026-09-29T15:58:14Z url: https://rews.cc/a/nato-says-russian-sabotage-campaign-is-failing-to-sway-allie-a6a849 language: en tags: ["war", "security", "nato", "ukraine", "russia", "europe", "world"] publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)" --- # NATO says Russian sabotage campaign is failing to sway allies *Estonia blames Russian intelligence for an August arson attack on drone maker Milrem Robotics as NATO chief Rutte urges calm* By rews desk · September 29, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/nato-says-russian-sabotage-campaign-is-failing-to-sway-allie-a6a849 ## In brief - KAPO: August 15 arson at Milrem Robotics in Tallinn was sabotage ordered by Russian special services - Three suspects, two Latvian citizens and a third, detained and extradited to Estonia from Latvia - NATO chief Rutte says Russia’s sabotage campaign is failing to weaken Ukraine support, urges ‘calm, carry on’ - Kremlin’s Peskov calls Estonia’s accusation ‘baseless’ with ‘no relation to reality’ - Comes weeks after Germany blamed Russia for explosive drone found near Ukrainian plane at Leipzig airport NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Tuesday that Russia’s campaign of sabotage across Europe was failing to weaken Western support for Ukraine, hours after Estonia accused Russian intelligence services of ordering an arson attack on a defence company. Estonia’s Internal Security Service, known as KAPO, concluded that a fire on the night of August 15 at a Tallinn building used by Milrem Robotics, which makes unmanned ground vehicles supplied to Ukraine, was sabotage commissioned by Russia’s special services, Prime Minister Kristen Michal said in a [government statement](https://valitsus.ee/en/news/russia-responsible-arson-attack-milrem). > We can conclude with certainty that the arson attack ... in Tallinn was an act of sabotage ordered by the special services of the Russian Federation. Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, who made the accusation in a [post on X](https://x.com/Tsahkna/status/2104832012972429697), said the people who carried out the attack had been apprehended and “no longer pose a threat,” and that Estonia had summoned Russia’s chargé d’affaires in Tallinn. Two Latvian citizens were detained in Latvia on August 17 and a third the following day; all three were [extradited to Estonia](https://news.err.ee/1610114578/3-suspects-detained-over-suspected-arson-at-milrem-robotics-factory-in-estonia) in mid-September, Estonian broadcaster ERR reported. Tsahkna said Estonia would respond by tightening sanctions and further restricting travel to Europe for Russian citizens. “This act of sabotage is part of Russia’s broader campaign across Europe, aimed at intimidating us and weakening our support for Ukraine,” he wrote. KAPO Director General Margo Palloson said Russian services continued trying to recruit and influence people in Europe for acts of sabotage, and that defence companies and organisations supporting Ukraine faced an “elevated threat,” urging them to strengthen physical and cyber security. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the accusation. “Such statements are baseless, ill-considered, have absolutely no relation to reality and lack any form of reasoning. Consequently, we cannot and will not take such statements seriously,” he told reporters. ## Rutte urges ‘calm, carry on’ Speaking alongside Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius at NATO headquarters, Rutte said Russia’s hybrid activities “can have an impact and sometimes they have an impact, clearly,” but that the alliance’s response options were sufficient. “We should not be naive ... about Russia, but they know we are stronger,” he said, according to a [NATO transcript](https://www.nato.int/en/news-and-events/events/transcripts/2026/09/29/joint-press-conference-by-nato-secretary-general-mark-rutte-and-the-prime-minister-of-lithuania). “Russia is not in a good place. Their economy is not in a good place. When you look at Ukraine, they’re losing at the moment over 40,000 a month, dead or seriously wounded, a month,” Rutte said, adding that the best response to Moscow’s actions was “more support for Ukraine, not less.” Sinkevicius said intelligence services had no proof Moscow was preparing anything bigger in the near term. “It’s a must to say if a threat is there for society, but you can’t exaggerate and say something is happening in the upcoming months or weeks,” he said. “The risk remains, but it’s not fluctuating ... not increasing or decreasing.” Other European leaders voiced solidarity with Estonia. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul condemned what he called Russia’s “reckless act of hostility” and pledged Berlin’s full solidarity. French President Emmanuel Macron said on X that “Russia must know that it will not prevail over either our unity or our determination to continue supporting Ukraine,” calling the pattern of attacks “a dangerous escalation.” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called the arson “extremely serious,” saying on X that “this pattern of attacks is directed against Europe as a whole ... It will not work.” European Commission spokesperson Christian Wigand said the EU stood by Estonia and that Moscow’s attempt “to scare Europe into winding down its support for Ukraine” would not succeed. ## Part of a wider pattern The Estonian accusation followed Germany’s decision last month to blame Russia for an explosive-laden drone found near a Ukrainian cargo plane at [Leipzig/Halle Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Leipzig_Airport_drone_attack) in early August, after which Berlin closed a Russian consulate and a cultural centre. Danish intelligence has separately [warned](https://rews.cc/a/danish-intelligence-sees-a-limited-russian-attack-on-nato-as-0e9af5) that a limited Russian attack on NATO territory remains a live risk, though European spy agencies have [disagreed](https://rews.cc/a/russia-is-planning-something-europe-s-spies-agree-they-just--4a1167) on how imminent any such action might be. At a separate security conference, Michal compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to a “rat in the corner” escalating activity in Europe to try to break Western resolve while his forces remain tied down in Ukraine, more than four years after Moscow’s February 2022 invasion. Speaking alongside NATO Allied Air Command’s John Stringer, Michal said a conventional Russian attack on Europe remained “improbable” given the threat of a NATO response, but that elevated hybrid activity was “here to stay” until Putin changed his war aims. The best deterrent, he said, was to “back Ukraine.” Estonia’s criminal investigation into the exact circumstances of the Milrem arson continues, KAPO said, even as it declared itself confident in attributing the attack to Moscow. ## See also - [Hybrid War Tracker](https://hwt.lv/) — hwt.lv · Independent database logging suspected Russian hybrid incidents across Europe