Ukraine crisis: Estonian security officer abducted on border

Soldiers of Ukrainian self-defence battalion "Azov" get out of a car as they arrive at a checkpoint in the southern coastal town of Mariupol (Reuters)

An Estonian security officer was abducted and taken into Russia at gunpoint, during an operation to stop an illegal crossing on the border today, Tallinn’s Internal Security Service said.

The Foreign Minister, Urmas Paet, said Tallinn had contacted Moscow about the abduction. There have been several incidents on the border in recent years involving smuggling, illegal migration and weapons trafficking.

“He was captured using force at gunpoint. He was fulfilling his duties preventing cross-border criminal activity,” a security service statement said.

The unidentified abductors, at the Luhamaa checkpoint, had jammed radio communication and used a smoke grenade.

Estonia, a former Soviet state and member of the EU and Nato, has tense relations with Russia, which have deteriorated following the crisis in Ukraine. Local media quoted the head of the security service, Arnold Sinisalu, as saying preliminary information did not suggest there was any political motivation behind the abduction. Reuters