HELSINKI (AP) — Estonia’s foreign intelligence agency says Russia is counting on the COVID-19 pandemic to weaken unity in the West and help Moscow gain a more prominent role in international affairs. The Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service said in its annual report that the Kremlin thinks the pandemic will force Western nations to focus on domestic policy and economic problems. The authors of the report released Wednesday said Russia’s strategy would likely include attempts to discredit COVID-19 vaccines developed in the West. The Russian government didn’t offer an immediate reaction to the report from Estonia, a former Soviet republic. Moscow has denied similar Western claims of malign intentions in the past.
