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On the eve of the 107th anniversary of the declaration of Estonian independence, it is very important to assess how comprehensive Estonian society is in assessing the history, present and future of the Estonian state, columnist Andrey Kuzichkin writes.
It is well known that only a nation with common goals can meet the challenges of time, overcome crises and successfully implement a development strategy. Regrettably, it must be noted that there is still a divide in Estonian society 33 years after the restoration of independence. An indicator of such a divide today is the attitude of the Estonian population to Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
According to a survey commissioned by the Government Office and conducted by Turu-uuringute AS in December 2024, 95 percent of ethnic Estonians and 55 percent of the population with a first language other than Estonian condemned Russia's military actions. Among representatives of ethnicities other than Estonians, the proportion of support for Russia's military actions increased from 9 percent to 15 percent within three months, while among Estonians it did not change, remaining at the level of 1 percent.
It is no secret that among the representatives of other nationalities in Estonia, Russians make up an absolute and overwhelming majority. Of course, data on the attitude towards the Russian-Ukrainian war is not enough to assess the actual mentality of local Russians. Therefore, I analyzed the reaction of readers of the Russian-language edition of Postimees on Facebook to several February posts and compiled a small ranking according to the number of comments and reactions to certain events in Estonia and the world.
The initial conclusion is this: they love Russia, hate Estonia and Ukraine.
Comments from the Russian-speaking population on Estonian news
Let us evaluate the reaction of readers to the less popular and most popular topics. The problems of children with cancer are of almost no interest. More lively discussions are taking place in the Rus.Postimees Facebook group about road accidents and store prices.
5th place – The anniversary of the death of Alexei Navalny
In fifth place in terms of popularity was the anniversary of Alexei Navalny's death – 150 comments and as many negative statements about the Russian opposition leader. Commentators contrasted him with Aivo Peterson, the leader of the Koos movement, who was called a real political prisoner. And the demand for Peterson's release received 60 likes.
4th place – The nuns of Pühtitsa Convent
The fourth most popular post was about the visit of nuns from the Pühtitsa Convent to the Riigikogu. This post garnered 160 comments, one of which – “Leave the nuns alone!” – received 130 likes.
3rd place – Estonia’s security and Russia
In third place was the topic of Estonia's defense capabilities and politics related to Russia. Posts about the upcoming Independence Day parade brought about many sarcastic comments, for example: "Russia decided to build a bowling alley in place of Estonia, Estonians were afraid that they would be toppled with balls with holes and decided to organize a parade. All six Estonian military personnel came to the parade", "Ew, shameful!", "I don't understand at all how such ‘countries’ as our Estonia can be taken seriously. It's like a district of St. Petersburg or a couple of municipalities in any region. But here there is some kind of president, parliament, a voice in the EU..."
The news about frostbite among participants in military exercises resulted in 200 reactions, half of which were smiley faces. An article by MP Marko Mihkelson about the threat from Russia was followed by 100 comments with the same content: "This year, the stupidity of the Estonian government is breaking all records. In my opinion, our leaders are completely out of their minds, due to their hatred, they see enemies everywhere!! Better be afraid of your own people, whose suffering you are pushing to the limit!", "People lived normally, especially during the kroon era, no taxes, everyone got what they wanted, fuel was transported by the riverful, there was plenty of work everywhere, you could get a doctor’s appointment the next day if you wanted, the birth rate was great!!! But look at what has been done, and this is not the limit!"
2nd place – Ukraine
In second place were Ukraine and related topics. 314 comments were added to a statement of the Baltic states, Poland and Finland in support of Ukraine. The comment "The leaders of the countries support, but the population of these countries does not!" received 170 likes. The threat: "It is very cold in Siberia right now... and Trump promised to withdraw American troops from the Baltic states...", 60 likes. "Estonia has already ground all its teeth into powder out of anger and envy", 30 likes.
An article about the problems of Ukrainian refugees in Estonia caused an explosion of malicious joy. 330 comments, practically all negative: "Until now, they were tough enough to love their country from afar! What happened? For some reason, they don't love for free?", 90 likes. "Suitcase, train station, Kyiv", 120 likes. "You rode the country and many people's lives into despair, and for what purpose? Did you also want ‘lace panties’ and the Viennese opera? Yes, the hangover will be very severe and will last a very long time. Oh, the misfortune!", 160 likes. "It is worse to live in Estonia than in Ukraine", 100 likes. Commentators also reacted with joy to arson attacks on Ukrainian restaurants in Tallinn, expressing the opinion that these were the acts of competitors and had nothing to do with politics.
1st place - Disconnection of the Baltic states' electricity grid from Russia
However, in first place, of course, was the disconnection of the Baltic states from the common electricity grid with Russia and Belarus. The article, according to which the era of Russian electricity is over, received 745 reactions and 890 comments. True, there were various opinions here. Some commentators approved of the move, others criticized it. Critics wrote: "Was it beneficial for Estonia? I don't think so. Was it beneficial for the Estonian people? Definitely not. Why did Estonia need it? To worsen Russia’s situation? I don't think it will significantly affect the Russian economy. I think it was necessary so that Estonia’s owners could live better," 270 likes.
The hysteria surrounding the disconnection went beyond all bounds. The Estonian government was cursed for the risk of plunging the country into chaos. The shadow of a coming apocalypse hung over all the comments. But the connection to the European energy system was successful, and this caused disappointment among those who expected a catastrophe. True, the rise in electricity prices led to a temporary revival of the meme "We warned you!". The news that Russian supply lines had been cut in Narva brought numerous comments, accompanied by irritation: "How much can one write about this! Nothing new!"
Today, the Russian-language segment of Estonian social networks is dominated by the topic of Europe's strategic defeat in the face of the threat of the Trump-Putin alliance. Commentators happily quote Vice President JD Vance's speech in Munich and excitedly discuss the imminent collapse of Ukraine and the European Union and the victory of Russia.
Russia's information aggression demands a response
These are clearly the results of the systematic influence of Russian propaganda on the Russian-speaking community in Estonia. Yes, of course, there may be bots among the commentators. But the way they act follows a trend supported by real members of Russian-language Facebook groups. Unfortunately, Estonia is losing the battle over the mentality of its Russian-speaking population. And this despite the fact that the country has quite powerful information resources and counter-propaganda centers. For example, ERR, the Propastop team or the International Center for Defense and Security (ICDS). However, the audience of the Russian-language editorial office of Eesti Televisioon is modest, and Propastop and the ICDS have ceased Russian-language publications, which significantly reduces their effectiveness in the fight against Russian propaganda.
Before starting to write the article, I familiarized myself with the content of several regional newspapers and information sites. I found a lot of interesting news. But for the readers of these publications, there is no war in Ukraine. There are no problems with Ukrainian refugees. In one publication, I found only information about the addresses of shelters in case of a disaster and war, and in another, a call to join the Kaitseliit (Defense League) volunteer corps. Besides that... silence. The situation is better where regional publications have gone into the possession of Postimees, they have a permanent section titled "Ukraine". Of course, rural residents are more interested in local news, and a wolf attack on a flock of sheep is more important to them than Russian missile attacks on Odesa. But a common information space of the state is created precisely as one continuous content. And if the information space collapses, the collapse of the state is also possible.
These resources operating in Estonia, which are unable to effectively protect themselves from Russian information attacks, provide a platform for many different Russian propaganda actors and directors operating in Estonia.
Estonia's largest Russian-language portals Postimees.rus and Delfi.rus remain flagships of counter-propaganda. However, the information hygiene of these resources leaves much to be desired: the institution of anonymous Delfi comments and the lack of signs of combating bots in the Postimees portal actually create channels for the dissemination of Kremlin narratives in the Estonian public space.
These resources operating in Estonia, which are unable to effectively protect themselves from Russian information attacks, provide a platform for many different Russian propaganda actors and directors operating in Estonia. For example, Oleg Besedin's FB group Tallinntsy (Таллиннцы) has over 50,000 members and his YouTube channel over 120,000 subscribers. Recently, an opportunity to circulate Kremlin propaganda narratives on this channel was given, for example, to Yaakov Kedmi – former head of the Israeli special services and an active participant in the programs of the propagandist Solovyov on Russian television. The title of the program was "The Broken Trough of Europe" (Разбитое корыто Эвропы) and it had 222,000 views in 16 hours.
A few days ago, Tetiana Montian, who represented the Kremlin's interests at a UN Security Council meeting, spoke on Besedin’s channel. She talked about how Western countries have ruined Ukraine, which garnered over 370,000 views.
Unfortunately, Estonian web police officers do not show sufficient and effective interest in commentators in Russian-language FB groups who actively support Russia's aggressive policy, mock Ukraine and its defenders, constantly humiliate Estonia and mock state symbols. And only a few civic activists, such as Larissa Nikolas from Narva or Daniil Kurakin from Tallinn, take a stand against Putin's "fifth column" in Estonian social networks. At the same time, they receive many threats, but I do not know how the police respond to this.
Yet, Estonia needs numerous units of “battle elves” capable of challenging the Kremlin’s bots, trolls and propagandists, especially now, when complex scenarios in the world have led to the activation of Russian special services on the information front. Tomorrow may be too late. After all, the one who wins the battle over mentality wins the war for the future.
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