Spying: Estonian officer jailed

Russia on Wednesday sentenced an Estonian intelligence officer to 15 years in jail, drawing EU and US ire after Tallinn said he was kidnapped at gunpoint on its territory.

A court in the western Pskov region, which borders Estonia, sentenced Eston Kohver on charges of spying, weapon possession and illegally crossing the border, his lawyer said.

Prosecutors said Kohver , an officer for Estonia's KAPO internal security service, was detained in Russian territory last September as he carried out an undercover operation.

But Tallinn, a NATO member, accused Moscow's FSB security service of kidnapping him at gunpoint from Estonian territory as he was investigating cross-border crime.

"The abduction of Eston Kohver from the territory of the Republic of Estonia by the FSB on 5 September and his unlawful detainment in Russia thereafter constitute a blatant breach of international law," Estonian Foreign Minister Marina Kaljurand said in a statement.

She urged Russia to "immediately release" him. Estonia's internal security service covers several fields including counter-intelligence work and weapons smuggling.   

Tensions between Russia and the ex-Soviet Baltic states have soared over Russia's seizure of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and alleged backing of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Many Estonians believe the timing of Kohver's arrest was deliberate, coming just two days after US President Barack Obama visited Tallinn in a show of support for Baltic security following Russia's role in the Ukraine crisis.

Kaljurand denounced the trial as unfair, saying the Estonian consul had not been permitted to attend the hearings.

In a post on Facebook, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves asked people to wear yellow ribbons in a show of support for Kohver, who is expected to be sent to one of Russia's strict penal colonies.