Estonia's prime minister Kaja Kallas has been put on a wanted list in Russia because of her efforts to remove Soviet-era Second World War monuments in the Baltic nation, reported Russian media on Tuesday.
Kallas's name appears on the Interior Ministry's register of people wanted on criminal charges, which also includes other officials and lawmakers from Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
Kallas appears to be the first head of state placed on the Russian Interior Ministry’s wanted list by the Russian government since the full-fledged invasion began. Kallas dismissed the move on social media as Moscow's "familiar scare tactic" and proof that she was “doing the right thing” by supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia.
“Throughout history, Russia has veiled its repressions behind so-called law enforcement agencies,” Kallas said, citing the cases of her grandmother and mother, who she said were deported to Siberia after the KGB issued arrest warrants for them.
"Russia may believe that issuing a fictitious arrest warrant will silence Estonia," she said. "I refuse to be silenced — I will continue to vocally support Ukraine and advocate for the strengthening of European defenses."
Estonian Secretary of State Taimar Peterkop also appears on the list.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have sought to remove Soviet monuments that were erected during the occupation. Moscow has denounced those moves as a desecration of memory of Soviet soldiers who were fighting the Nazis.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters it was a response to action by Kallas and others who "have taken hostile action toward historic memory and our country."
Russia has laws criminalizing the "rehabilitation of Nazis," which include clauses punishing the desecration of war memorials. Russia's Investigative Committee, the country's top criminal investigation agency, has a dedicated department to deal with alleged "falsification of history" and "rehabilitation of Nazism." a
The move comes after last year's arrest warrant against Putin that was issued by the International Criminal Court over the alleged deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
