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Anti-Estonian sentiment generally describes dislike, discrimination and/or hate of the/against/towards Estonian people or the Republic of Estonia and is typically propagated by the Russian government and media.
Christopher Walker and Robert Orttung allege that Kremlin-controlled sectors of the Russian media took advantage of anti-Estonian sentiment during Estonia's 2007 relocation of the Bronze Soldier, a Soviet-era monument to Russia's victory over Germany in the Second World War, originally called "Monument to the Liberators of Tallinn". [1] At various times following Estonia's independence from the Soviet Union, Russian national television has effectively shaped anti-Estonian sentiment [2] with the state-controlled media redoubling their anti-Estonian campaign after specific events that displease Moscow. [3]
According to Lilia Shevtsova, Senior Associate at the Russian Domestic Politics and Political Institutions Program Chair of the Carnegie Moscow Center, anti-Estonian sentiment was intentionally escalated by Kremlin in its "search for enemies", however she also notes that even Russian democrats took Estonia's removal of the statue immediately before Victory Day to be an affront to the Russian national honour. [4]
The Russian government used its state controlled media to propagate anti-Estonian sentiment in order to encourage ethnic Russian outrage, leading to coordinated waves of cyber attacks against Estonian internet infrastructure. [5] The President of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves stated at the time: "We are witnesses to the information war against Estonia which already reminds of an ideological aggression". [6]
An anti-Estonian pejorative neologism, eSStonia, appeared in the Russian media, on Runet, and at the street protests in the midst of the Bronze Soldier controversy in 2007. The term, a portmanteau of Estonia and SS, is intended to portray Estonia as a neo-Nazi state. [7]
In April 2007, some participants protested outside the Embassy of Estonia in Moscow, organized by the Russian youth organisation Nashi, carrying signs stating "Wanted. The Ambassador of the Fascist State of eSStonia" (Russian : «Разыскивается посол фашистского государства эSSтония»), referring to the then-Ambassador of Estonia to Russia Marina Kaljurand. [8] In May 2007, members of the Young Guard of United Russia picketed the Consulate-General of Estonia in Saint Petersburg holding up pickets with slogans such as "eSStonia–the shame of Europe!" (Russian : «эSSтония — позор Европы!»). [9] The use of eSStonia in protests by Nashi and the Young Guard determined the head of the Saint Petersburg youth branch of Yabloko to file a complaint with Yury Chaika, the Prosecutor General of Russia, asking for an investigation into a possible breach of Article 282: Incitement of National, Racial, or Religious Enmity of the Criminal Code of Russia. [8] [10]
In November 2007, Komsomolskaya Pravda, the biggest selling daily newspaper in Russia, ran a campaign asking readers to boycott travel to Estonia, Estonian goods and services. The campaign run under the slogan "I don't go to eSStonia" (Russian : Я не еду в эSSтонию). [7] [11] [12] The Economist, in its editorial, called the term "a cheap jibe" by spelling the country's name eSStonia, President Ilves as IlveSS and Prime Minister Ansip as AnSSip, while noting the coining of the term Nashism to describe what they regard as the populist, pro-authoritarian and ultra-nationalist philosophy of Nashi, a pro-Kremlin youth movement, as an encouraging countermeasure. [13]
In 2007, as a response to the possibility of removal of World War II graves (in the context of the Bronze Soldier controversy) Russian State Duma issued a statement accusing "the Estonian government's intention to continue its course of representing Nazism in a heroic light and justifying its ideology". [14] In Russia, the youth movement Nashi has been noted for anti-Estonian sentiments among its members; often, framed as "anti-fascism activities". [15]
Patriarch Alexy II was the 15th Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Komsomolskaya Pravda is a daily Russian tabloid newspaper that was founded in 1925. Its name is in reference to the official Soviet newspaper Pravda 'Truth'.
Walking Together was a Russian youth movement that was created by Vasily Yakemenko in May 2000. The group, which had over 50 thousand members as of January 2002, was strongly pro-Putin and is openly endorsed by President Vladimir Putin's administration. It has strict rules and indoctrination methods, and was openly criticized for its similarity to the Soviet Young Pioneers established by the Communist Party in 1922. The senior patron of the movement was Vladislav Surkov, the deputy head of the presidential administration. The group was transformed into "Nashi" (Ours) youth group in 2005 after a scandal involving the dissemination of pornography.
Toomas Hendrik Ilves is an Estonian politician who served as the fourth president of Estonia from 2006 until 2016.
Racism in Russia mainly appears in the form of negative attitudes towards non-ethnic Russian citizens, immigrants or tourists and negative actions against them by some Russians. Traditionally, Russian racism includes antisemitism and Tatarophobia, as well as hostility towards the various peoples of the Caucasus, Central Asia, East Asia and Africa.
Nashi was a political youth movement in Russia, which declared itself to be a democratic, anti-fascist, anti-"oligarchic-capitalist" movement. Nashi was widely characterized as a pro-Putin outfit, with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism describing it as "Putin's private army". Western critics have detected a "deliberately cultivated resemblance to" the Soviet Komsomol or to the Hitler Youth and dubbed the group "Putinjugend".
Evelin Ilves is the second wife of President of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves. She was the First Lady of Estonia from 9 October 2006 until their divorce on 30 April 2015.
The International Foundation for Civil Liberties is a non-profit organization established by the Russian-British oligarch Boris Berezovsky in November 2000. The foundation is headquartered in New York City and headed by Alexander Goldfarb. The stated mission of the foundation is "to provide financial, legal, informational and logistical resources to secure human rights and civil liberties in Russia."
Oleg Vladimirovich Kashin is a Russian journalist and writer known for his political articles.
Russian web brigades, also called Russian trolls, Russian bots, Kremlinbots, or Kremlin trolls are state-sponsored anonymous Internet political commentators and trolls linked to the Government of Russia. Participants report that they are organized into teams and groups of commentators that participate in Russian and international political blogs and Internet forums using sockpuppets, social bots, and large-scale orchestrated trolling and disinformation campaigns to promote pro-Vladimir Putin and pro-Russian propaganda.
Estonia–Russia relations are the bilateral foreign relations between Estonia and Russia. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on 2 February 1920 after the Estonian War of Independence ended in Estonian victory with Russia recognizing Estonia's sovereignty and renounced any and all territorial claims on Estonia.
Beginning on 27 April 2007, a series of cyberattacks targeted websites of Estonian organizations, including Estonian parliament, banks, ministries, newspapers and broadcasters, amid the country's disagreement with Russia about the relocation of the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn, an elaborate Soviet-era grave marker, as well as war graves in Tallinn. Most of the attacks that had any influence on the general public were distributed denial of service type attacks ranging from single individuals using various methods like ping floods to expensive rentals of botnets usually used for spam distribution. Spamming of bigger news portals commentaries and defacements including that of the Estonian Reform Party website also occurred. Research has also shown that large conflicts took place to edit the English-language version of the Bronze Soldier's Wikipedia page.
Aftermath of the Bronze Night refers to the reactions and consequences of the Bronze Night, the controversy and riots in Estonia surrounding the 2007 relocation of the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn, the Soviet World War II memorial in Tallinn.
Erkki Johan Bäckman is a Finnish political activist, propagandist, author, eurosceptic, and convicted stalker working for the Russian government. Bäckman has been a prominent Finnish propagandist in Russia who has actively participated in long-standing operations to propagate anti-Finnish and anti-Western Russian propaganda.
Russian influence operationsin Estonia consist of the alleged actions taken by the government of the Russian Federation to produce a favorable political and social climate in the Republic of Estonia. According to the Estonian Internal Security Service, Russian influence operations in Estonia form a complex system of financial, political, economic and espionage activities in Republic of Estonia for the purposes of influencing Estonia's political and economic decisions in ways considered favourable to the Russian Federation and conducted under the doctrine of near abroad. Conversely, the ethnic Russians in Estonia generally take a more sympathetic view of Moscow than that of the Estonian government. According to some, such as Professor Mark A. Cichock of the University of Texas at Arlington, the Russian government has actively pursued the imposition of a dependent relationship upon the Baltic states, with the desire to remain the region's dominant actor and political arbiter, continuing the Soviet pattern of hegemonic relations with these small neighbouring states. According to the Centre for Geopolitical Studies, the Russian information campaign which the centre characterises as a "real mud throwing" exercise, has provoked a split in Estonian society amongst Russian speakers, inciting some to riot over the relocation of the Bronze Soldier. The 2007 cyberattacks on Estonia is considered to be an information operation against Estonia, with the intent to influence the decisions and actions of the Estonian government. While Russia denies any direct involvement in the attacks, hostile rhetoric from the political elite via the media influenced people to attack.
Mark Sirõk is a Russian-speaking Estonian political activist. He is designated as a commissar of the pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi and a leader of the movement in Estonia.
Toomas Vitsut is an Estonian politician, and as appointed Chairman of the City Council of Tallinn in 2005. He is also the founder of the institutional round table for resolving the ethnic tensions caused by the conflict around controversial Bronze Soldier statue in Tallinn. Vitsut was born in Tallinn and belongs to the Estonian Centre Party.
Lilia Fyodorovna Shevtsova is a Kremlinology expert.
The 2014 anti-war protests in Russia refers to a series of anti-war demonstrations opposing the Russian military intervention in Ukraine that took place in Russia in 2014. Protesters held two anti-war protest rallies on 2 and 15 March 2014. The latter, known as the March of Peace, took place in Moscow a day before the Crimean referendum. The protests have been the largest in Russia since the 2011–2013 Russian protests by the Russian opposition against the alleged electoral fraud committed by United Russia during the 2011 Russian legislative election. Reuters reported that around 20,000 people participated in the 15 March demonstrations.
Igor Gennadyevich Gordin is a Soviet and Russian actor of theater and cinema. Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (2004). Laureate of the Golden Mask (2011).
