The Prime Minister of Estonia is on Russia's wanted list for destroying Soviet-era war memorials following the invasion of Ukraine.
Kaja Kallas has been put on the list alongside Estonia’s state secretary Taimar Peterkop and culture minister Simonas Kairys.
Kallas, 46, is an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin, earning her the nickname "Europe's New Iron Lady", a reference to Margaret Thatcher.
She has also been touted as a possible future Nato secretary general.
Kallas, 46, is an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin
Reuters
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: "This is only the beginning...Crimes against the memory of the world’s liberators from Nazism and fascism must be prosecuted."
Kallas said that Estonia, an EU and Nato member state, would take down up to 400 of the memorials.
Estonia, alongside Latvia and Lithuania, issued diplomatic protests on Wednesday to Moscow after their leading politicians were placed on a wanted list.
Latvia's foreign ministry in a statement said it was working with the EU to address the matter and was seeking to mitigate any risk to the country's nationals. Lithuania meanwhile demanded that its politicians be removed from the list.
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Kaja Kallas has been tipped to be a future leader of Nato
Reuters
Estonia in a statement said its diplomats had "expressed indignation" and demanded an explanation from the Kremlin.
A spokesperson said: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also notified the representative of Russia that these steps by the Russian state will not stop us from doing the right thing and Estonia will not change its resolute support for Ukraine."
Meanwhile, a spokesperson from the Lithuanian foreign ministry said: "These Russian decisions contradict the generally recognised norms of international law, show efforts to falsify the past and show disrespect to the historical memory of Lithuania."
Diplomats from these Baltic countries will only face arrest in the unlikely circumstances they cross the border into Russian territory.
Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas talks with media at press corner of EU Leaders Summit on October 27, 2023
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Earlier this week, Kallas told reporters that recent comments made by Donald Trump on Nato should be a wake-up call for Nato members who haven't invested much in defence.
She said: "I think what the presidential candidate in America said is also something to maybe wake up some of the allies who haven't done that much."
PM Kallas added that the EU should send a clear message "irrespective of who will lead the next American administration...that we are strong enough to be able to defend each other and that any statement of that sort needs to be recognized with the danger that it brings, but also a steadfastness on our regard that we need to do more."
