• Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur resigns amid scandal over procurement of ammunition for Ukraine.
• Pevkur cites political responsibility for financial management shortcomings in defence sector.
• Estonia paid €70 million in advance for artillery shells for Ukraine from inexperienced Indian company, leading to ongoing dispute.

Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur has announced his resignation following a scandal over the procurement of ammunition for Ukraine.

Pevkur, who has served as defence minister since 2022, told Estonian television that he was taking political responsibility for shortcomings in the financial management of the defence sector.

"The prime minister will have to find a new defence minister," Pevkur said late Wednesday.

The politician, a member of Prime Minister Kristen Michal's ruling Reform Party, also announced his resignation on social media.

"I do this in the firm knowledge that we have made the right decisions to strengthen national defence. Estonia is better protected than ever before," he wrote on Facebook.

Pevkur had come under public pressure after Estonia's National Audit Office identified numerous serious problems at institutions under the Defence Ministry.

According to the auditors, the shortcomings increased the risk of misuse of state funds and assets. Similar problems had already been identified a year earlier.

The controversy was compounded by a scandal involving the procurement of weapons for Ukraine.

Estonia paid €70 million ($81 million) in advance to an Indian company in an attempt to purchase artillery shells, despite the firm having no previous experience selling ammunition.

Neither Estonia nor Ukraine has received the ammunition so far, and the dispute is now before the courts.

Estonia, a country of 1.2 million people and a member of both the EU and NATO, shares a border with Russia, whose war against Ukraine is viewed as a direct threat to national security in the Baltic state.

The government in Tallinn is a close partner and supporter of Ukraine, which has been defending itself against Russia's full-scale invasion for more than four years.