The Feuerkrieg Division is the Baltic version of the US-based Atomwaffen Nazi paramilitary. And like their American counterparts, they were planning some murder, specifically with bombs.

Fortunately, authorities were able to put a stop to theses plans once they identified and found their leader — who turned out to be a 13-year-old boy. From Deutsche Welles:

Investigators found the group was headed by a 13-year-old, the German magazinesaid, citing Estonian newspaper Eesti Ekspress. The young man operated online under the name "Commander" and was responsible for the recruitment and admission of new members.

He also shared bomb-making instructions, spoke about planning an attack on London and suggested organizing military training camps in February, to commemorate the "100th birthday" of Adolf Hitler's former political party NSDAP.

A spokesman for the Estonian Internal Security Service told The Associated Press that they had intervened with the 13-year-old Commander's parents in Finland in January, but that, "As the case dealt with a child under the age of 14, this person cannot be prosecuted under the criminal law and instead other legal methods must be used to eliminate the risk. Cooperation between several authorities, and especially parents, is important to steer a child away from violent extremism."

The Feuerkrieg Division has operatives in Germany, Lithuania, and the US, and some of their other leaders have also been apprehended recently. But the group was largely organized online, and according to the Eesti Ekspress, which broke the story, no one seemed to be aware that they were taking orders from a maniacal 13-year-old. Read the rest

Esteemed Estonian animator Rein Raamat created this groovy short, "Värvilind," in 1974. The music is by composer Rein Rannap who was also the founder of Estonian prog rock band Ruja.

(via ObscureMedia)

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Deniss Metsavas was a well-known military officer who frequently appeared on TV on behalf of his country's armed forces. He was also, thanks to a event of passion, blackmail and a constant fear of incarceration, a Russian intelligence asset. In this emotional video from The Atlantic, Metsavas talks about the consequences of his being blackmailed into becoming a witting Russian asset and the quick, dark path that led him to betraying his uniform and the country that he served.

Image vis Klickr, courtesy of Thomas Depenbusch (Depi) Read the rest

Before Thomas Borgen was CEO of Danske Bank, he ran the bank's Estonian branch from 2009-2013, presiding over years of neglect of basic, commonsense money-laundering controls, allowing more than €200B to flow through the bank from well-known financial secrecy jurisdictions like the British Virgin Islands, as well as Russia. Read the rest

The University of Toronto's Citizen Lab (previously) is one of the world's leading research centers for cybersecurity analysis, and they are the first port of call for many civil society groups when they are targeted by governments and cyber-militias. Read the rest

Jason Kitcat writes, "I'm currently in Tallinn, Estonia as part of a team of independent security and elections researchers sharing our findings that the Estonian online e-voting system has serious flaws. We monitored the e-voting system in live use as accredited observers during municipal elections in October 2013. Then, using the source code the Estonian National Election Committee publishes, a replica of the system was built at the University of Michigan." Read the rest

Photo: Bruce Sterling

First things first: oh, you world travelers, for pleasure or for work, never, ever fly Baltic Airlines. First they will stiff you by making you pay sixty euros to carry regular-sized hand luggage. You will note their particular eagerness to pounce on innocent non-Baltic travellers, especially haplessYankees with credit cards.

During the flight you can expect to be charged for the air you breathe, since they don't even give free water.

Finally, god forbid if something goes wrong with your flight and ticket, for Baltic Airlines will gladly maneuver you into buying a heavily-priced new one. Fleeing home via Baltic Airlines beats prison and deportation, but not by much. Read the rest

Here's 53 minutes' worth of Soviet commercials from the 1970s and 1980s, produced by what's billed as the USSR's sole advertising agency.