By law, an individual may be deprived of their military rank if they are convicted of a crime against humanity, international security or state powers, or is sentenced to life in prison, spokespeople for the President of the Republic said on Friday.

Metsavas had most recently been promoted to major in February 2015.

Last month, Harju County Court found Deniss Metsavas, 38, and his father Pjotr Volin, 65, guilty of treason and of forwarding internal information to Russia. Following a plea deal, Metsavas was sentenced to 15 years and six months in prison; Volin was sentenced to six years in prison.

According to the charges, Metsavas and Volin aided the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU) in nonviolent activity against Estonia, and collected and forwarded Estonian state secrets and classified external and internal information to the GRU. Communications channels as well as in-person meetings were utilised to hand over information, for which the convicted individuals also received remuneration.

Communications channels as well as immediate meetings were used to hand over the information and the convicted also received remuneration for that.