Russia's flag flutters in front of the Russian Embassy in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 27, 2018. (RAIGO PAJULA/AFP/Getty Images)
So when the United States and major European allies did exactly that a month ago, Estonians felt a bit of quiet satisfaction.
After all, this former Soviet republic for years has manned the front lines against covert spy operations and apparent infiltrations by Moscow.
Since 2008, Estonian officials say, they have arrested at least 17 people on suspicion of spying for Russian intelligence services — and, often, the names of the suspects are given to the media, along with video from the investigation or arrest.
Suspected agents from Moscow’s military intelligence agency — still widely known by its former Soviet-era abbreviation GRU — were linked to cyberhacking attempts during the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign. More recently, they were implicated in the poisoning in March of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian double agent, and his daughter in Salisbury, England. The Kremlin denies any role.
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