Viru County Court found Pavel Kapustin, a Russian citizen living in Narva, guilty of espionage against Estonia. He was sentenced to six and a half years in prison. Additionally, his assets worth nearly 90,000 euros were confiscated.
Kapustin collaborated with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). He collected information and sent it to Russia. This was harmful to Estonian security.
Kapustin also transported goods under sanctions from Estonia to Russia. People living in Russia ordered luxury goods from him. Kapustin organized the transportation of these goods.
In addition, Kapustin provided false information to the Police and Border Guard Board when applying for a residence permit.
State Prosecutor Triinu Olev-Aas said that the FSB collects information about Estonia. This information helps them conduct espionage and influence Estonia. Kapustin sent information to the FSB, such as the removal of the tank memorial in Narva and people's opinions about the Wagner leader Prigozhin's rebellion.
The State Prosecutor emphasized that even seemingly insignificant information can be useful to a hostile country. Therefore, cooperation with Russian intelligence services is a crime.
The Estonian Internal Security Service warns that the FSB treats people crossing the Estonian-Russian border as potential recruits. They recommend against traveling to an aggressor country without reason. On such trips, one may fall into the trap of Russian special services, but help can be obtained from the Internal Security Service.
Violating sanctions indirectly supports Russia’s illegal activities. Kapustin earned criminal income of at least 90,000 euros. The court confiscated this money at the request of the State Prosecutor’s Office.
The pre-trial investigation was conducted by the Internal Security Service. The criminal case was led by the State Prosecutor’s Office.