Estonia to charge Russian Estonian citizen with treason for spreading Russian propaganda

A Russian woman with Estonian citizenship who promoted Russia’s propagandist messages for years has been charged with sanctions violations and treason.

Source: European Pravda with reference to ERR

Details: The Prosecutor’s Office of Estonia has charged Svetlana Burtseva, who is an Estonian citizen, with violating international sanctions and committing treason. Following a preliminary court session on 6 August, it was announced that the hearing would commence on 1 November.

Burtseva became an Estonian citizen in 1994 through naturalisation. She has worked for the Russian media group Rossiya segodnya (Russia Today) since 2017, writing for various Estonian online media outlets.

"Her writings were published, some of them under pseudonyms, in online news outlets which serve the interests of Russian propaganda. Even after sanctions against Russia were implemented by the Council of the European Union, Burtseva continued to work for the real beneficiary of Russia Today, Dmitry Kiselyov," said Eneli Laurits, Prosecutor General of Estonia.

Based on the evidence collected, the Estonian Prosecutor’s Office believes that Svetlana Burtseva knowingly violated the sanctions.

"Following the results of the pre-trial investigation, the Security Police concluded that Burtseva cannot be considered an independent, objective and neutral journalist. The evidence shows that Burtseva is a propagandist and worked for portals which serve the aggressive goals of the Kremlin. In addition to sanctions violations, the investigation into her activity also uncovered a crime against the state," Laurits said.

Among other things, it was revealed that in 2019-2021, Burtseva studied for a master’s degree in the occupied city of Sevastopol in Crimea, focusing on information wars and hybrid conflicts, in which her supervisor is believed to have been a former FSB officer.

Following these studies, Burtseva, jointly with her supervisor, published a book entitled Hybrid War for Peace, offering her analysis of how Russia could win such a global war.

The book was promoted in Estonia as having been authored by an Estonian political scientist, whose name turned out to be a pseudonym of Burtseva’s. "The content of the book humiliates the Estonian Republic and aims to split Estonian society, discrediting Estonia and its institutions," Laurits noted.

Svitlana Burtseva is also accused of treason committed through non-violent actions against the independence and autonomy of the Estonian Republic.

She has been under arrest since 1 March. Her defence team petitioned for her pre-trial restriction to be changed to house arrest with electronic surveillance, but the Prosecutor’s Office rejected this request, arguing that Burtseva would attempt to flee to Russia.

Background: This summer, a criminal prosecution was initiated in Latvia against Andrejs Mamikins, a former MEP who fled to Russia.

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