Court sentences dual citizen to four years for spying for Russia

Harju County Court has sentenced Estonian and Russian dual citizen Nikita Kuzmin to four years in prison for espionage against Estonia, ERR reported.

The court convicted Kuzmin in a plea agreement after prosecutors accused him of conducting and supporting intelligence activities against Estonia.

According to the indictment, Kuzmin established contact with an officer of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, known as the GRU, while living in Russia no later than 2024. At the GRU’s direction and for its purposes, he collected information about military and civilian sites in Narva and its surrounding area.

Prosecutor Margaret Beres said participation in intelligence activities targeting Estonia’s security and cooperation with Russian security and intelligence agencies were subject to strict punishment.

Taavi Narits, deputy director general of the Estonian Internal Security Service, said Kuzmin had been recruited at a Russian university.

“Russian special services officers operating under cover work at Russian higher education institutions. One of their tasks is to recruit foreign students who face no restrictions on travelling to Western countries,” Narits said.

He added that studying in Russia with state funding was often followed by demands for future cooperation, and that students who refused could instead find themselves on the front line of a war.

The Internal Security Service conducted the preliminary investigation, while the Prosecutor’s Office led the proceedings.