Main narratives:
- Anti-government sentiments;
- There is no freedom of speech in Estonia;
- The West is hypocritical.
Overview:
Last week, the Harju County District Court in Estonia sentenced the journalist Svetlana Burceva to six years in prison for treason and for breaching international sanctions. An Estonian citizen since 1994, Burceva had worked for the Russian state media group Rossiya Segodnya, contributing under a pseudonym to pro-Kremlin online platforms such as Baltnews.ee from 2020 to 2023. Despite EU sanctions against Russia, she continued her activities, which prosecutors argue served Kremlin propaganda interests. Burceva also co-authored a book titled Hybrid War for Peace, published under a pseudonym, which prosecutors claim disparages Estonia and aims to divide its society. The case has attracted significant attention from pro-Kremlin social media commentators who have condemned the charges as politically motivated. They have also labelled the case a ‘fabricated’ attempt to punish Burceva for her professional activities, criticising Estonia’s actions as indicative of a decline in Western-style democracy.
Missile and drone strikes carried out by Israel against targets in Iran were another topic of discussion in Russian-speaking Facebook groups in Estonia. Many of the comments portrayed Israel as the aggressor, a narrative also promoted by official Russian propaganda.
Commenters frequently drew parallels between the situation in the Middle East and the war between Russia and Ukraine, in an attempt to create the impression of inconsistency in the foreign policy of Western countries. Users in these groups argue that if the ‘collective West’ condemned Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, it should also condemn Israel’s actions towards Iran. This comparison reflects the familiar narrative of a ‘hypocritical West’.
Another clear trend in the comment sections under news articles about the Middle East was the mockery of any statements made by Estonian authorities regarding Israel and Iran. This, in turn, helped to reinforce the Russian narrative that Estonia lacks agency in international affairs and is governed by outside forces.
