Estonian Parliamentarians have voted to mark Sept. 22 as the Day of Resistance. On the same date in 1944, Soviet forces overran Tallinn and began the five-decade occupation of Estonia. They arrived to find the blue, white and black tricolour flag of Estonia flying atop Toompea Hill. Only days before, an interim Estonian government headed by Otto Tief was sworn into power in a final attempt to seize independence. Traditionally, the Russian-speaking community has marked Sept. 22 as a day of "liberation".
The police agency KAPO will investigate a fraudulent e-mail circulated in the name of Prime Minister Andrus Ansip. In the e-mail, which carried Ansip's name and was sent to a large number of addresses, the imposter prime minister said he would end his campaign to remove the controversial Bronze Soldier monument. However, it was established that the e-mail originated from a foreign server. "Misuse of the prime minister's identity is a very serious matter," Ansip's press spokesman said. "That's why we asked the security police to find out all the circumstances relating to this false e-mail."
Russia has angered Finland by testing the world's largest nuclear-powered ice-breaking ship in the Baltic Sea. The ship, called the 50 Let Pobeby, was tested during two weeks this month in the Gulf of Finland, in violation of a treaty in which Russia agreed to inform Finland of any nuclear ship activity within 300 km of its coastline. The ship, which has been in production for 13 years, will be manned by a crew of 138 and will be capable of breaking ice up to 2.8 meters thick. Russia already has seven nuclear icebreakers.
An alleged gang of VAT fraudsters and money launderers will face prosecution, suspected of defrauding the state of 16.4 million kroons. Tax investigators and police arrested five members of the group, who allegedly dodged paying tax on the purchase and sale of metals. A further twelve people remain under investigation, with charges expected to be filed shortly, district prosecutor Maria Sutt-Tehver said.
