Pro-Kremlin youth activists tried to attack Estonian Ambassador

Pro-Kremlin yang activists tried to attack Estonian Ambassador while she was holding a mews conference in Moscow. She said that computer vandals with Kremlin Internet addresses hacked Web sites of Government of Estonia.

Marina Kaljurand had called the news conference to demand Russia do more to protect staff at the Estonian Embassy, which has been besieged by activists protesting the decision last week to remove a Soviet war memorial from downtown Tallinn.

Activists from the youth group Nashi, however, barged into the building, chanting "Fascism Will Not Pass!" and were confronted by Kaljurand's bodyguards, who sprayed pepper spray.

"There was an attack by the organization Nashi. Apparently the attack was aimed against me, but nobody got through to me. Nobody touched me," Kaljurand told reporters after nearly an hour's delay.

Estonia's Foreign Ministry quickly issued a statement in protest.

"Physical attacks on the Estonian Republic diplomatic representative are unprecedented and absolutely unjustifiable," the ministry said in a statement. "The events clearly show that Russian authorities are blatantly violating the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations."

Kaljurand also said that hackers who have disrupted Estonian government Web sites in recent days were using Internet protocol addresses registered to the Kremlin.

"Based on information of the Estonian side, the (computer) attacks are being carried out from IP addresses of the Kremlin administration, among others," she told reporters.

There was no immediate reaction to the accusation from the Kremlin.

Estonian authorities' removal last week of a Soviet war monument from a square in downtown Tallinn provoked riots in the Baltic country, mainly by ethnic Russians. They were the worst riots since Estonia regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.