Estonia will close all of its border crossing points with Russia from December 1, a decision announced by foreign affairs minister Margus Tshanka after an attempted arson attack on a defence industry company. Tshanka said Russia's military intelligence service GRU had ordered the sabotage attack, and he warned Moscow that "hostile actions against Estonia come with consequences".

The Estonian Internal Security Service said an attempt was made at 3:06 a.m. on November 14 to attack the premises of Threod Systems, a company that manufactures drones, with the aim of causing an explosion and setting the building on fire. Suspects were quickly detained, and the service advised people not to consider job offers from Russia.S2

Prime minister Kristen Michal also warned that "necessary steps" should be taken to close Estonia's eastern border after the attack. Tshanka said closing the crossings would reduce the Kremlin's ability to conduct hostile activities in Estonia and strengthen efforts to prevent sanctions circumvention, and he said he had informed his Finnish, Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts of the decision.S2

Estonia sits on NATO's eastern flank alongside Latvia and Lithuania, and it is not the first time it has restricted border access with Russia since Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Road border crossings are already closed overnight, operating only between 7am and 7pm. The UK acts as a framework nation in Estonia, with French troops also contributing, and the UK's contribution runs through Operation Cabrit in Estonia and Poland.S2