The decision of the Estonian authorities, who refused to let the Akademik Primakov research vessel into the territorial waters of the country, causes “extreme bewilderment”. This was stated by the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Maria Zakharova.

She noted that during 2019, the ship twice received appropriate permits to cross the border from Tallinn.

“This time they refused, and without explanation,” said Zakharova.

According to an official spokesman for the foreign ministry, this is the third time in recent years when Estonia has refused to let in Russian ships and aircraft.

“In early October, an airplane was not allowed to fly through Estonian territory with the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation on board, and in April, the Sedov Russian training vessel was called into the territorial waters of the Republic of Estonia,” she added.

As Zakharova explained, Moscow fixes “these unfriendly demarches” and will take them into account “in building bilateral relations” with Tallinn.

  • The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Maria Zakharova
  • RIA News
  • © Sergey Pyatakov

The incident with the Sedov barque, which is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest training sailing vessel that has survived to this day, occurred a few days before the first full meeting of the presidents of Russia and Estonia since 2008. On April 17, the Estonian leader paid a working visit to Moscow, which was dedicated to the opening ceremony of the main building of the country's embassy after a three-year restoration.

As explained by a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Baltic Republic, Sandra Kamilova, Sedov did not receive permission to enter the territorial waters of Estonia, as cadets from the Kerch State Marine Technological University from Crimea are on board.

According to her, admitting a ship to Estonian territory would be contrary to the policy of not recognizing the reunification of the peninsula with Russia in 2014. The ship received a similar refusal from the Polish authorities. In connection with this event, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavel Klimkin expressed gratitude to his Polish counterpart Mateusz Moravecki.

A month later, the Polish side repeatedly refused the Russian barge - this time the opportunity to land in the port of иноwinoujсьcie. Commenting on these events, Maria Zakharova expressed doubts about Poland’s intentions to improve cooperation with Moscow in any way.

“Such behavior does not fit into the declarations declared by official Warsaw of interest in developing relations with Russia. Such actions indicate the opposite, ”she said.

Note that in March the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Department published a report. In particular, it refers to Moscow’s growing practice of allegedly using “civilian vessels to carry out operations to expand influence”. The Russian embassy described this document as "a hard-to-digest vinaigrette of insinuations, distortion of facts, biased assessments and outright slander, implicated in thick Russophobia."

  • The four-masted barque Sedov arrives at the port of Murmansk
  • RIA News
  • © Pavel Lvov

The vessel "Academician Primakov" was built in 1999 in Norway. Two years ago, it was acquired by OJSC Sevmorneftegeofizika (SMNG), which is part of the Russian geological holding Rosgeologiya. The ship is equipped with the modern Q-Marine navigation and geophysical complex, capable of towing up to 16 seismic streamers.

“The acquisition of the R / V“ Akademik Primakov ”marked the beginning of a new stage in Russian offshore exploration due to the possibility of using a high-tech vessel that has no analogues in Russia and the equipment installed on it,” the SMNG website says.

We add that the ship is named after the Soviet and Russian economist, political and state figure, orientalist, professor, academician and state prize winner Yevgeny Primakov, who died on June 26, 2015 at the 86th year of his life. During his career, he served as chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Russian government, president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and also headed the central intelligence service of the USSR and the foreign intelligence service of the Russian Federation.

“He loved the sea, raved about the sea. And when we learned that there was a proposal to name this vessel by the name of Yevgeny Maksimovich, we were very happy because we understood that he would be happy and pleased that such a great honor had happened, ”said his widow Irina Primakova in 2017.