Martin Helme said that spreading such falsehoods damages the entire party. Martin Helme is the son of Mart Helme.

Posting on his social media account Monday, Martin Helme wrote: "It is sad to see the lengths to which former good party comrades have gone"

"Henn Põlluaas has asserted unequivocally that during a board meeting, Mart Helme praised Putin's holy war in Ukraine. This a depressing falsehood," Helme junior continued.

"First, the meeting in question was a Riigikogu faction meeting, not a board meeting. Second, Mart clearly stated that, since most people were not familiar with [Patriarch] Kirill's original statement, he had read the declaration and was paraphrasing it for the faction members," the EKRE leader added.

"He was re-reading the original text. If anyone claims they didn't understand that this was not Mart's own opinion but a retelling of Kirill's statement, then they must either be quite foolish, or thoroughly deceitful and malicious," he went on.

"How can people who have referred to themselves conservatives stoop so low as to use the Kremlin card against their own party members, in the way that [NGO the Liberal Citizen Foundation] SALK does, knowing full well that it is simply not the case?"

Helme stressed that spreading such highly charged ideological falsehoods not only damages Mart Helme but also the entire party.

"Unfortunately, this has been a pattern. We can no longer discuss or debate matters at party board or faction level without them being thoroughly distorted by individuals looking to harm the party, the seized upon gleefully by the mainstream liberal media, to attack EKRE," Helme's post continued.

"What so-called proponents of democracy are doing to their own party now is simply sad and depressing," he concluded.

EKRE's sole MEP Jaak Madison, re-elected on Sunday, also responded to the post, but in defense of Henn Põlluaas, a former Riigikogu speaker.

Madison wrote: "I also clearly remember the board meeting in May where, among other agenda items, the topic arose of the Russian Orthodox Church in Estonia wanting to meet with the party's board or faction. There was a discussion, and it was decided that the matter would be revisited after the elections on June 9."

"Then, Vice Chair Mart spoke, approximately saying: 'As Patriarch Kirill has said, Russia is fighting a holy war in Ukraine for the Christian world. And I agree with that.' I'm not quoting verbatim, but that's essentially what he said, unfortunately," Madison continued, also on his social media account.

Speaking to ERR on Monday, Henn Põlluaas said that he had overheard Mart Helme express support for Russia's holy war in Ukraine during a meeting. "Unfortunately, it is true. I heard it with my own ears. Mart said it at our board meeting, so there were many people were there who heard it too," Põlluaas said.

Both Põlluaas and Madison have publicly backed Silver Kuusik, Martin Helme's rival in the upcoming EKRE leadership election.

Helme: Zero tolerance on damaging party's reputation

Speaking to ERR, Martin Helme said that the party must resolve its internal disputes, while if different factions cannot coexist within the party, someone will have to leave.

He said: "All parties have certain dynamics in the course of their developmental stages: A time for growth, a time for settling, a time for seeking and choosing new directions."

"At present our party is at the stage where there is a considerable core within the party—these are not random individuals but some Riigikogu MPs and some board members—who clearly want to steer the party in a different direction, and this is a very fundamental internal debate. We'll have this debate. If we can coexist afterwards, we will; if not, someone will have to leave," the EKRE leader went on.

Helme said EKRE has zero tolerance when it comes to harm to its reputation. Helme did not specify whether Põlluaas would face expulsion from the party as has happened in the past to members who have been judged to have damaged the party's image.

Helme said: "It is also outlined in our core constitution that behavior like this cannot be tolerated. Each case must be assessed individually, and a person's past contributions must always be taken into consideration," Helme went on.

"Ultimately, politics has a practical aspect too; how many votes someone can secure etc. But, fundamentally, actions like these run against our constitution, and we have maintained zero tolerance for that type of behavior."

Invoking a deity, the World Russian People's Council meeting led by Patriarch Kirill earlier this year adopted a declaration which proclaimed Russia's aggression in Ukraine as a "holy war" and that the west has fallen into the grip of "satanism."

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