While Ukraine is holding back the Russian army’s offensive on the battlefield, an information war is being waged against Estonia. Adherents of the “Russian world” are attacking Estonian media outlets. Any publication critical of the Kremlin triggers an immediate surge of activity — from anonymous bots to real users spreading pro-Kremlin narratives. Estonian publicist Andrey Kuzichkin analyzed reactions to a Facebook repost of an article about Ukraine’s effective strikes on Russian oil infrastructure. According to his observations, the comments under the publication are filled with threats against Estonia and grim scenarios for Europe’s future. The expert warns that this is a new phase of information pressure requiring a systemic response and consolidated efforts to counter propaganda.
Information War: 500 Comments Under a Text About Ukraine’s Successes
Once again, it is worth returning to the question of the limits of freedom of speech. On March 28, the Rus.ERR Facebook page posted a link to the article: “Estonian Expert: Attacks on Ust-Luga and Primorsk Cost Russia 55 Million Dollars a Day.” Alan Vaht, a board member of the fuel company Terminal, and expert Raivo Vare assessed the effectiveness of Ukrainian drone attacks on the oil terminals at the port of Ust-Luga. Their overall conclusion was that a reduction in Russia’s hydrocarbon exports would deepen the crisis in the Russian economy and reduce the Putin regime’s ability to wage war against Ukraine.
Within 16 hours of publication, 500 comments appeared under the article. They can be divided into four groups:
- There are no experts in Estonia, and there cannot be any, because only dimwits live here.
- Europe’s rejection of Russian oil will soon destroy Europe’s own economy, which is already collapsing.
- There is no need to write about Russia’s problems — tell us about Estonia’s problems instead.
- Estonia opened its airspace to Ukrainian drones and thereby signed its own death warrant.
Here are several typical comments (spelling and punctuation preserved from the originals):
“In Estonia, 12,000 children are starving, the birth rate is critically low, and Estonian specialists keep peering over the neighbor’s fence. First provide your own citizens with at least some semblance of a decent life in your little backwater, and only then count your neighbor’s money.”
“The main thing afterward will be convincing everyone that the drones did not take off from Estonian territory. It may turn out that NATO won’t help at all. They’ll destroy everything with drones just like in Ukraine.”
“And we are suffocating in Sillamäe from a chemical cloud right now, thanks to Ukraine.”
“Absolutely no brains! This will affect us too! You’ll regret it bitterly! Hunger is close! Everything will stop working! How can people not understand this? Nothing but horror!”
“The main thing is that Estonia itself does not come under attack by Russian missiles for such actions, since it took part in military operations by opening its airspace for Ukrainian drones. Fools are signing their own death sentence.”
“I will gladly watch Estonia disappear from the face of the earth because of this.”
A rapid analysis showed that 90% of the comments contained standard Kremlin propaganda narratives; around 200 authors spreading Russian propaganda posted one comment each, 50 authors posted two comments each, and 20 authors posted three or more comments.
Read also on PostPravda.Info: Russia – An Information Ghetto in the Information World
An Army of Trolls Against Estonia
The authors of more than half of the comments are bots and trolls, while genuine accounts belong to approximately 50 commentators. In the profiles of 40 commentators, Moscow and other Russian cities, as well as Minsk, are listed as places of residence. However, there are also authentic accounts belonging to residents of Estonia.
The Estonian-language version of ERR on Facebook did not publish this material. Other articles about the Ukrainian attacks on the port of Ust-Luga received only one or two comments.
Thus, Estonia has once again come under attack from Russia and is suffering defeat in the Russian-language information space. The algorithms behind these attacks have long been refined and follow a standard playbook: any publication in Estonian Russian-language media criticizing Putin triggers an immediate reaction. First, the authors of such publications are attacked. Then the focus of criticism shifts under the slogan: “Don’t touch Russia! Deal with your own problems!” But the core message consists of threats against Estonia and apocalyptic predictions of a grim future for Europe.
Russian PSYOP Operations Are Acts of Aggression by a Hostile State
How harmful are such information attacks against Estonia? I believe they are extremely harmful and dangerous. We are dealing with PSYOP — information-psychological special operations — conducted by Russian intelligence services using high-tech communication tools. PSYOP is defined as the targeted dissemination of information intended to manipulate the emotions, motivations, and critical thinking of the population. The goal is to sow panic, undermine morale, and alter public behavior in favor of the aggressor.
From this perspective, the “Narva People’s Republic” is an obvious product of PSYOP. The hundreds of comments defending Russia and opposing Estonia’s interests and independence are also PSYOP.
Faced with the Russian threat, the Republic of Estonia has done much to mobilize resources and strengthen national security. But all these efforts can be undermined by the absence of barriers against Russian propaganda, which freely exploits Estonian media to create an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear within Estonian society. Moreover, the primary victims of these information attacks are Russian-speaking residents themselves — precisely the part of the “Russian world” that Putin has sworn to defend in any region of the planet.
On March 20, the Russian government submitted to the State Duma a draft law that would allow troops to be deployed to other countries to protect Russian citizens arrested or prosecuted there under court decisions. This is a new threat that demands mobilization on the front line of the struggle against Russian propaganda.
War Is War
To begin with, the Russian-language editorial offices of Estonian media should improve the work of website moderators responsible for filtering comments, because statements such as “all Estonians are dimwits” and “I’m glad Estonia will soon be bombed and disappear from the map” are not opinions, but insults and war propaganda.
In the longer term, access to Estonian media should simply be restricted for bots and residents of both Russia and Belarus. War is war.
Translation of the article from the Russian original published in Postimees.
Read also on PostPravda.Info: Russian Myths about the Residents of Donbas. Why does Putin’s Empire need Lies?
