A 60-year-old man has been arrested in connection with Saturday’s explosion at Ülemiste Centre, Estonia’s largest shopping centre, which injured one person and prompted the evacuation of shoppers and staff.
State Prosecutor General Astrid Asi said the suspect, a Tallinn resident who is not an Estonian citizen, was detained on suspicion of deliberately causing the explosion with the intention of damaging the shopping centre. The man has previously been convicted of criminal offences.
Attack carried out by a notorious hacker
According to the Estonian news outlet Delfi, police believe the attack was carried out by Artur Boiko, 60, a notorious hacker with multiple previous convictions for cybercrime and threats against public officials. The device detonated in a rubbish bin as a cleaner was emptying it, injuring the worker, who was taken to hospital and is expected to recover.
Investigators say the motive was a personal grievance with Ülemiste Centre, although authorities have not disclosed the nature of the dispute. Searches are continuing at Boiko’s home in Nõmme, a residential district of Tallinn.
Boiko, who is not an Estonian citizen but holds so-called grey passport status, is well known to Estonian law enforcement. In 2021, he illegally downloaded nearly 300,000 documents containing sensitive personal data from a state computer system. He was arrested in 2022 after issuing threats linked to Estonia’s decision to ban Russian television channels following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He was later convicted of threatening behaviour and of hacking a computer system belonging to a vital public sector institution.
A single explosion
Emergency services received the alert at 6.47pm on 20 December after a rubbish bin exploded inside the centre. A person standing nearby was injured and taken to hospital. Authorities later confirmed that the injuries were not life-threatening.
Witnesses told local media that a single loud explosion was heard. According to eyewitness accounts, the blast occurred on the first floor outside a Rimi grocery store and briefly caused panic among those present. People were instructed to evacuate the building immediately.
One person who was at the centre told the Estonian news outlet Delfi that her mother had been unable to leave the underground car park for around half an hour after the explosion. “It was more frightening than being upstairs at the time of the explosion, because they did not know what was happening or when they would be allowed to leave,” she said.
Shoppers and staff were evacuated as a precaution, while rescue crews and bomb disposal specialists were dispatched to the scene. Evacuated people were sheltered in a heated city bus outside the centre. The Rescue Board urged the public to avoid the area while emergency operations were ongoing.
Deliberate act, but no terror link
At a press conference on 21 December, Margo Palloson, director general of the Internal Security Service, said the explosion had been deliberately caused and that the suspect was identified already on Saturday evening.
“This allows us to say that the threat to the public has been neutralised,” Palloson said. He added that there was no indication the incident was connected to terrorism, extremism or any foreign influence.
Asi said the explosive device had been homemade. According to prosecutors, there is reason to believe the motive was personal revenge stemming from the suspect’s previous connection with the shopping centre.
“The intention was to cause damage to the shopping centre,” Asi said, adding that prosecutors would seek the suspect’s detention by court order. At the time of the statement, the suspect was being questioned.
The Internal Security Service confirmed that the incident was isolated and that Estonia’s national threat level has not been raised.
Credit: Paul Saar.
Increased police presence, centre reopens
Egert Belitšev, director general of the Police and Border Guard Board, said that although the suspect had been detained, police patrols had been increased to provide additional reassurance.
An explosion at the country’s largest shopping centre shortly before the holiday period was bound to cause fear and confusion, he said, but stressed there was no reason for the public to change their behaviour.
Tiia Nõmm, head of marketing and responsible business at Ülemiste Centre, said the incident had come as a shock.
“The safety of our visitors and staff is always our top priority. We are working closely with the investigative authorities to support the ongoing investigation. Until it is concluded, we cannot comment on the details of the incident. We wish the injured person a speedy recovery,” she said.
No ongoing security threat
Nõmm added that police had confirmed there was no ongoing security threat and that the centre could reopen to visitors. Security procedures have been reviewed and the number of security personnel increased. Police have also contacted shopping centres across Estonia and issued guidance to their security services.
Opened in 2004, Ülemiste Centre has undergone several expansions and now covers a total area of 125,000 square metres, housing more than 200 shops and restaurants. It is both Tallinn’s and Estonia’s largest retail complex.
Tallinn’s new mayor, Peeter Raudsepp, said the explosion at Ülemiste Centre had alarmed many residents but emphasised that the authorities responded swiftly and professionally. He said he had been in close contact with the security services, praised the rapid evacuation and care provided to those affected, and noted that the city had supported the response by deploying additional buses for staff.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
