Russia puts Estonia’s prime minister on wanted list

RUSSIA has put Kaja Kallas, the prime minister of Estonia, on a wanted list for destroying Soviet-era war memorials after the invasion of Ukraine.

Taimar Peterkop, Estonia’s state secretary, and Simonas Kairys, Lithuania’s culture minister, were also listed for “desecration of historical memory”, the Kremlin said.

Ms Kallas, 46, is a fierce critic of Vladimir Putin. The leader dubbed Europe’s new “Iron Lady” has been mooted as a possible future Nato secretary general. Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, said: “Crimes against the memory of the world’s liberators from Nazism and fascism must be prosecuted.”

The Baltic politicians were accused of “destroying monuments to Soviet soldiers”, the state news agency Tass reported.

Estonia, where British-led Nato troops are stationed, borders Russia and was formerly part of the Soviet Union. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Baltic countries announced plans to demolish Soviet-era monuments.

Ms Kallas said that Estonia, an EU and Nato member state, would take down up to 400 memorials. Her office has been contacted for comment. She and the other lawmakers will only face arrest in the unlikely circumstances they cross the border into Russian territory.

Putin is subject to an international arrest warrant for war crimes, with many countries obliged to arrest him if he is on their soil. Last month, Putin taunted the West by flying close to Estonia and hugging the coasts of Latvia and Lithuania in his presidential plane.

He then visited the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, seen as a potential flashpoint in a war with Nato.