Editorial: Russia cloning impact tricks

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Photo: Urmas Nemvalts

Attacking or child protection rules and depicting these as inhuman – rather a novel type of Russian «treatment» of Estonia.

Remarkably, agencies in Russia a cloning topics and methods in various nations. For years, Russia’s children’s ombudsman of KGB background Pavel Astahhov has been a best known representative of Russia in Finland, after the Finns as related to parental care of children in mixed families. For agencies in Moscow, many are the «hostile» nations. No wonder that the tools are tried all over. Therefore, we’d be wrong not to treat attacks against Estonia as separate from other nations.

Remarkably also, members of Parents of Estonia feature an abundance of people participating in other impact endeavours by Russia. That’s the way it tends to be in neighbouring nations also. The same bunch of people used megaphones for added topics. Smacks of central management.  

At least in Finland, the parental care thing worked well. In case of divorces, as spouses contest rights over the children, this is always delicate and painful. Also, emotional and allowing to identify. Add to this that child protection officials are limited in ways to defend their activities as attacked by opponent propaganda – having to defend personal information of kids and parents, no way can they unfold the definite details. Regarding Pavel Astahhov and the propagandists hired by him, such rules have no bearing – they say what they will. 

A mistake by the Finns we ought to avoid was that, for a long time, child protection officials indeed replied to abovementioned attacks according professional ethics and free media rules. As admitted by several experts, the simple official was left alone on information war frontlines.

In reality, such attacks need to be countered with help by professional «information warriors», equipped for the battle.  

Meanwhile, the absurdities and accusations are used in Russia to project enemy image in minds of locals. Here and in Finland, folks like Johan Bäckman are known as marginal clowns. But, when a person as such, with his Western name, is featured in a Russian paper, for the audience he’s an expert reiterating the «truth» of the propaganda. In the Astahhov-scheme, who’s Estonia’s Bäckman?

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