'Abducted' Estonian Security Police Official Held in Moscow Jail

'Abducted' Estonian Security Police Official Held in Moscow Jail .(EE).

That report on Pervyi Kanal, and interviews with Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet earlier in the day on Postimees daily (which embedded video from RT) and other media sites, including uudised.err.ee, were the first confirmation of the whereabouts of Eston Kohver.

Lenta.ru, a Russian site, said - according to a report on the Delfi site - that Kohver is suspected of espionage, smuggling firearms into the country and illegal border crossing. 

"It can't be ruled out that this will be used to send a message" in a judicial process, Delfi speculated, saying that the gravity of the charges could signal difficulty for Estonia in getting Kohver back soon.

Ministry or consular officials have apparently still not been able to meet Kohver, although talks with the Russian Foreign Ministry have been under way.

According to the Internal Security Service (ISS), Estonia's national agency for counterintelligence and high-profile corruption investigations, Kohver was abducted at gunpoint on Friday morning at Luhamaa border checkpoint, where he was discharging service duties.

Initially there was little indication it was necessarily more than an isolated criminal incident, but the use of a smoke grenade and jamming hinted at a more sophisticated operation. Within several hours it had developed into a diplomatic row, with the Estonian and Russian intelligence agencies advancing completely opposite versions of the events.

The report of the abduction broke around 16:00 on Friday, seven hours after it happened. At about 19:00, the FSB, the Russian security agency, was first to mention the name of the agent, Eston Kohver, which was later confirmed by the ISS. That was the only detail consistent in the versions, with the Russians putting forward a claim that Kohver was captured on the Russian side, albeit without evidence. Nor did the Russian side deny the Estonian claim that local Russian border guards agreed that the would-be kidnappers crossed into Estona to abduct Kohver.

The ISS says Kohver was investigating a crime - evidently smuggling-related - while the FSB has said Kohver was in Russia to meet with a contact and that 5,000 euros and a mission brief were found on Kohver's person.

All ISS officials are strictly prohibited from traveling to Russia. Over the last 10 years, Estonia has apprehended four Russian moles in the ISS - similar in model to the American FBI. The ISS has won plaudits from the international press for being one of the most successful agencies in weeding out infiltrators in what many consider a new Cold War between Russia and the West.If found guilty, Interfax said, he could face up to 20 years in prison. Hmmm.....There's always the possibility that he's a double agent.Read the full story here.

DEVELOPING: Estonian Counterintelligence Officer Abducted to Russia at Gunpoint,

DEVELOPING: Estonian Counterintelligence Officer Abducted to Russia at Gunpoint. Foreign Ministry Summons Russian Ambassador.(NewsEER).

An official from the Internal Security Service (ISS), Estonia's national agency for counterintelligence and high-profile corruption investigations, was abducted at gunpoint at Luhamaa border checkpoint this morning where he was discharging service duties, and taken to Russia. There is no indication that the abduction is more than an isolated criminal incident, but on the backdrop of international tensions, the situation is being treated seriously.

The incident occurred at about 9:00 on the Estonian side of the border and was preceded by jamming of communications and use of a smoke grenade, the agency said; the interference was said to originate from the Russia side.

The ISS said the official was in the process of interdiction of a cross-border crime.

The area is in Võru County, by Russian border post #121. The border lacks major fortifications; the area is thinly populated.

The whereabouts of the official are not known.

There was no immediate explanation on the late disclosure of the incident - more than six hours after it occurred - which comes during a period of more tense relations with Russia.

Officials at Press Conference: Bilateral Border Guard Meeting Was Held Earlier in Day

Officials from the ISS (KaPo in Estonian) and the Office of the Prosecutor General held a press conference at 17:00.

Arnold Sinisalu, director general of the ISS (pictured, center), said that Estonian and Russian border guards met for a briefing at the Estonians' initiative at 13:00. At the meeting on the border, the Russian side said it had no reports of the incident. Both sides visited the scene and established that there were indeed signs of a violent struggle with tracks leading to the Russian side, Sinisalu said. Sinisalu added that there was no indication of a firefight, or of an injury or bloodshed.

Asked for other details, such as whether the official was alone, Sinisalu said they were not immediately available or could not be released yet. He did, however, rule out terrorism.

He cautioned against speculation on the identity of the agent. He said he did not want to speculate on the motive and said there was no clear political reason.

A criminal case has been launched on counts of abduction and illegal border crossing.

Foreign Ministry Summons Russian Diplomat

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent for Russia's ambassador to Estonia, Yuri Merzlyakov, today to ask for an explanation.

Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said: "This is a very galling incident. We expect full assistance and cooperation from Russia in resolving the incident and bringing the Estonian citizen back to Estonia."

He said the Estonian Embassy in Moscow was in contact with the Russian Foreign Ministry as well.Read the full story here.

Update: Russia says it detained an Estonian officer on its territory. Is this the same man the Estonians say was abducted?

MOSCOW, September 5. / ITAR-TASS /. Estonian security police officer was arrested in the Pskov region during undercover operations, told Itar-Tass in the center of public relations of the Russian FSB.

"On the territory of the Russian Federation detained employee of the Department of Tartu Police Security Interior Estonia Estonia Kohver. Infringer have seized a gun" Taurus "with ammunition, cash in the amount of € 5 thousand., Special machinery for the implementation of a hidden record, as well as materials that have the character of intelligence job ", - the public relations center of the FSB.