Estonian police arrest Russian university professor for allegedly spying for Moscow

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Police in Estonia arrested a Russian professor teaching at the Baltic country’s most prestigious university on suspicions of spying for Moscow, officials said Tuesday.

Estonian Internal Security Service, or security police, said it launched an investigation into Vyacheslav Morozov, a Russian national and professor of international politics at the University of Tartu, for his alleged involvement in intelligence activity meant to undermine the country’s national security.

Authorities didn’t provide details of Morozov’s alleged intelligence activities “as procedural steps are being taken to verify the accusation,” ISS and prosecutors said in a joint statement.

“The current case is an addition to more than twenty previous ones and illustrates the desire of the Russian intelligence services to infiltrate various areas of Estonian life, including the scientific sector,” Margo Palloson, ISS Director General said in the statement.

He added that Russia’s “intelligence interest in Estonia remains high.”

The Prosecutor’s Office said it issued an arrest warrant for Morozov, who has remained in custody since Jan. 3, to prevent him from evading criminal proceedings and continuing to “commit offenses at large.”

The University of Tartu is Estonia’s largest and oldest, established in 1632. Estonian media reported that Morozov worked there as a professor of European Union-Russia studies between 2016-2023 and as a professor of international political theory from Jan. 1, 2023 until his detention.

According to information on his Facebook page, Morozov is a former associate professor at Saint Petersburg State University, one of Russia’s renowned academic institutions.