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Estonia Monthly: Bessedin’s Detention Fuels Pro-Kremlin Outrage

The detention of Oleg Bessedin by Estonia’s Internal Security Service (KAPO) in early November reignited intense debates about foreign influence operations and media pluralism. While authorities accuse Bessedin of cooperating with Russian intelligence-linked actors and amplifying sanctioned Kremlin propaganda, pro-Kremlin commentators framed his arrest as a politically motivated attack on Russian speakers in Estonia. The case has deepened existing tensions between national security concerns and narratives portraying Estonia as increasingly hostile toward dissenting Russian-language voices.