Palloson told ERR the ISS, known in Estonian as Kapo, has up to now prevented most similar would-be attacks, and that Russia is constantly seeking people to carry out sabotage on its behalf.

Based on ISS intelligence, Estonia's government on Tuesday announced it had concluded with full confidence that the August 15 arson attack on the Milrem Robotics building in Tallinn was an act of sabotage commissioned by Russian special services.

Palloson said in an interview with ERR that he "can say that of course this is not Russia's only attempt. They are constantly planning, looking for opportunities, trying to find people who would carry out attacks, but it doesn't happen by itself. The security police are working, and very efficiently. We have prevented the vast majority of attacks," said Palloson, declining to go into detail about the attacks that were prevented.

Palloson confirmed that the ISS sees through its intelligence gathering how Russia is constantly looking for people to carry out attacks. "Our job is to thwart these plans at a very early stage," he added.

According to Palloson, the range of people that Russian special services are trying to recruit is very wide. "There have been people from the Russian-speaking community in Estonia, there have been people from criminal circles, where the recruits are from so-called organized crime networks. And we also have several cases in Estonia where the perpetrators are from foreign countries," Palloson said, referring to the arson attack on the Slava Ukraini restaurant last year, when the perpetrators were recruited from Moldova.

In the Milrem case, the arsonists were from Latvia. People living in Russia who have the ability to travel have also taken part in previous attacks, Palloson added.

The motive of recruits is usually money. "The people who accept the order see it as an opportunity to make easy money. But in reality they don't realize what they are doing and often the Russian special services use them blindly. They don't tell people that we are from the Russian special services, that you are carrying out the attack on behalf of the Russian special services. Money is the main motivation," Palloson went on.

The government announced Tuesday it had concluded with full confidence that the attack was commissioned, with Prime Minister Kristen Michal saying it was part of Russia's broader campaign in Europe aimed at intimidating support for Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) said Estonia's response will be the opposite of what Russia is seeking. "Together with our allies and partners in Europe and beyond, we will increase pressure on Russia, tighten sanctions and seek additional ways to restrict the travel of Russian citizens to Europe. We will also continue and strengthen our comprehensive support for Ukraine."

A criminal investigation is ongoing to determine the exact circumstances of what happened at the Milrem building in the Lasnamäe district of Tallinn. The suspects in the immediate commission of the arson have been caught and taken into custody and no longer pose a threat, Palloson confirmed.

On August 17, two Latvian citizens suspected of carrying out the arson attack were detained in Latvia. A third suspect was detained the next day. Searches of locations associated with the suspects in Latvia resulted in the seizure of numerous data storage devices and items that may have been used to set fire to the building. On September 17–18, Latvia handed over all three suspects to Estonia.

According to Palloson, the threat of provocations and sabotage attempts from Russia remains. "Russian special services continue their recruitment and influence attempts in Europe, including to commit sabotage. Organizations and defense industry companies contributing to Ukraine's support are at heightened risk. The security police recommends that they strengthen physical and cyber protection measures," Palloson said.

Milrem Robotics supplies THeMIS unmanned ground vehicles to Ukraine.

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