BILD: Russia Wants To Destabilize Estonia

Tallinn faced a disturbing wave of Russian propaganda.

In recent weeks, Russian social networks have been actively spreading the idea of creating the so-called "People's Republic of Narva," a city in eastern Estonia located on the border with Russia. The population of Narva is about 50 thousand people, and about 90% of the residents are Russian-speaking.

The German edition Bild reports that the Estonian security services believe that such an information campaign may be an attempt to prepare the ground for possible destabilization of the region. In their opinion, such a scenario is reminiscent of the events of spring 2014 in Ukraine, when "people's republics" were proclaimed in a number of Russian-speaking regions with the support of Russian special services and local collaborators.

Then such structures were able to gain a foothold only in Donetsk and Lugansk - after direct intervention of the Russian military and prolonged hostilities, as a result of which more than 12,000 people were killed.

Since the beginning of March, messages have been appearing on Telegram, VKontakte and other social networks urging residents to distribute leaflets, commit acts of sabotage and arm themselves to proclaim the "Narva People's Republic" and oppose the Estonian government. Some publications also mention support from the Russian military.

Slogans such as "Russians, we are not alone!" and "Russian land stretches from Narva to Püssi" spread calls for armed struggle. Maps of the alleged "republic" are published online, as well as images of green-black-and-white flags. Some videos show masked people against the background of these flags calling for "acting together."

Estonian Security Police (Kapo) spokeswoman Marta Tuule said such publications are part of a disinformation campaign.

She said the purpose of such messages is to sow fear, cause confusion and divide society. Tuule emphasized that similar methods have already been used in Estonia and other countries.

She also warned that participation in such actions could lead to criminal liability.

The newspaper's sources in Estonian intelligence say that the campaign could have been launched not by chance now, against the backdrop of the war in the Middle East. In their opinion, it cannot be completely ruled out that such information activity may be part of preparations for a possible destabilization scenario similar to the events in Ukraine in 2014.

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