Trial begins for Russian propaganda collaborator accused of treason

A trial began in the Estonian Harju County Court on Friday for Svetlana Burceva, accused of violating international sanctions and committing treason, allegedly working primarily for Russia's propaganda machine.

Burceva, who acquired Estonian citizenship through naturalization in 1994, has been working for the Russian media conglomerate Rossiya Segodnya (Russia Today, or RT) since 2017, creating content for various Estonian online outlets and covering public events in Estonia. Her work was published in online news and media platforms serving Russian propaganda interests.

Even after sanctions against Russia were imposed by the European Council, Burceva continued to work in the interests of Dmitry Kiselyov, the owner and real beneficiary of Rossiya Segodnya.

According to the charges, Burceva was aware of the unlawfulness of her activities but continued the sanctioned work even after the news portal Sputnik Estonia ceased operations in 2019 due to sanctions violations.

Between 2020 and 2023, Burceva continued producing media content for the portal Baltnews.ee, where she used the pseudonym Alan Torm.

Public prosecutor Eneli Laurits said that the Estonian Internal Security Service (ISS) concluded that Burceva cannot be considered an independent, objective, and neutral journalist.

"In the opinion of the ISS, the evidence suggests that Burceva is a propagandist who worked for the benefit of media portals serving the Kremlin's aggressive aims, in whose activities, in addition to a violation of international sanctions, the investigation also identified a crime against the state," Laurits said.

From 2019 to 2021, Burceva attended master's studies at the Sevastopol State University, where she completed the information and hybrid conflict curriculum curated and led by a former FSB counterintelligence officer and the head of a private intelligence company registered in Russia.

"The two-year master's program aims to train international media workers and analysts at the forefront of combating hybrid threats Russia faces," the state prosecutor said.

After completing her studies, Burceva, in cooperation with the study program leader, published a book titled "Hybrid Warfare for the World," describing a global hybrid war that Russia must win. The book was marketed as written in Estonia and published under the name of L. B. Svet, a pseudonym for Burceva. The content of the book is disparaging of the Republic of Estonia and is intended to cause division in Estonian society and discredit the Republic of Estonia and its institutions.

According to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Estonia, the evidence presented in the indictment suggests that Burceva, as a citizen of Estonia, committed treason through the conduct of non-violent activities directed against the independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Estonia.