MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. Ukraine’s involvement in the activities of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence in Tallinn is an attempt at blackmailing Russia, Russia’s ambassador to Estonia, Vladimir Lipayev, told TASS in an interview.

He stressed that such a decision was symbolic, because it illustrated "the West’s plans for gradually involving Ukraine in a system of anti-Russian military planning and its integration with NATO infrastructure."

"Our suspicions on this score have turned out to be correct. This first step will certainly entail others, pursuing the aim of converting Ukraine into a stronghold for political, economic, ideological and military blackmail of Russia," Lipayev said, adding that Russia’s current special military operation in Ukraine was aimed precisely against such designs.

At the same time, Lipayev remarked that Kiev’s participation in NATO’s cyber center as such did not pose significant threats to Russia’s security.

"NATO’s Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence in Tallinn has operated since 2008 with more than 30 countries, some of them not NATO members, taking part. Estonia and Ukraine have maintained cooperation in the cyber sphere for a number of years," Lipayev said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24 launched a special operation in Ukraine in response to a request for help from the leaders of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow had no plans for an occupation of Ukrainian territories, its sole aim being the country’s demilitarization and denazification.