estonia has a long history of combating russias hybrid attacks. in 2007, the infamous bronze night riots unfolded, centered on the relocation of a soviet world war ii monument from a busy intersection in tallinn to a nearby war cemetery. pro-russian hooligans, egged on by kremlin disinformation, incited days of unrest culminating with a massive cyberattack against estonia later linked to russia. hantsom has been a central figure in these provocations. he was a notorious pro-russian activist frequently seen at protest events alongside members of the immortal regiment, a russia-originated civic initiative founded in 2012 to honor soviet soldiers who fought in world war ii. over time, and especially following russias 2014 invasion of ukraine and its takeover of crimea, the immortal regiment became an instrument for russian nationalism and a rallying point for putin loyalists, particularly the russian diaspora. in its publicly released 2016 annual review, kapo noted that immortal regiment activities in estonia are directed by allan hantsom. beyond his pro-russian activism, hantsom worked as a propagandist for sputnik estonia, a local branch of the kremlin-funded media outlet operated by russias state-owned rossiya segodnya. widely regarded as a tool of russian disinformation, sputnik was shut down in 2022, with its operators prosecuted for sanctions evasion schemes designed to circumvent eu-imposed restrictions following russias invasion of eastern ukraine in 2014. hantsom was also a gru asset. its unknown when he was recruited, but his arrest would lead to the unmasking of more culprits, a network of agents and sub-agents, most of them unaware as to who their masters in russian military intelligence were. one apparatus nested within another, like matryoshka dolls. the gru was behind it all, however, in a stealth effort to intimidate the nato member-state with which it shares a 200-mile border.   1
Norway