MOSCOW: Russian police have put Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Lithuania's culture minister and members of the previous Latvian parliament on a wanted list, according to the Russian Interior Ministry's database.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Kallas was wanted for the "desecration of historical memory".
Russian state agency TASS said the Baltic officials were accused of "destroying monuments to Soviet soldiers", acts that are punishable by a 5-year prison term under the Russian criminal code.
"The Kremlin now hopes this move will help to silence me and others - but it won't," Kallas said in a post on social media platform X.
"I will continue my strong support to Ukraine. I will continue to stand for increasing Europe's defence," she said, adding Russia's move was not a surprise.
The Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have demolished most of their Soviet-era monuments, including those commemorating Soviet solders killed in World War Two.
In response, the head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, ordered a criminal investigation into the matter.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: "This is only the beginning."
The Baltic politicians risk being placed under arrest only if they cross the Russian border, otherwise declaring them as "wanted" is unlikely have any practical consequence.
As well as Kallas, Estonian State Secretary Taimar Peterkop, Lithuanian Culture Minister Simonas Kairys and about 60 of the 100 members of the previous Latvian parliament, which ended its term in November 2022, were put on the list, according to the ministry database.
Kairys said the arrest order "means I acted actively and in a principled way".
All three are members of the European Union and Nato, and their relations with Moscow have worsened sharply since the start of the war.
Several dozen other Baltic politicians were also added to the Russian wanted list, including mayors, municipal deputies, and the former Latvian interior minister, Marija Golubeva.
The Interior Ministry database does not specify which article of the criminal code applies to those on the list.
Kallas said in 2022 that Estonian authorities would dismantle 200 to 400 such monuments. A Soviet tank commemorating the near Russian-speaking Narva town was removed in August.
In Latvia, an 84-metre structure, built to commemorate the Soviet victory in World War Two, was crushed with a bulldozer. — Reuters
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