“Estonia’s eastern neighbors have long been obsessed with Russian state television,” said Brian Stelter, CNN’s chief media correspondent. Estonia, a country of 1.3 million people, has received 30,000 Ukrainian refugees since the start of the war. Like Ukraine, it was also a former Soviet state, and still has a large Russian-speaking population and a well-founded fear of Russian aggression. The majority of its population is ethnic Russians, especially in the cities just across the Narva River, which separates the country from Russia. Many of Narva’s older inhabitants do not speak Estonian well, if at all. “In the absence of a lot of Russian media in Estonia,” Mclean said. “Russian state media have been left to fill the void, giving people a steady dose of propaganda in the Kremlin.” But now even this source has been cut off after the invasion. When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, Estonia blocked several Russian media outlets and television channels. “A lot of people here [are] “buying some systems for receiving Russian channels,” said Vladimir Zavoronkov, chairman of the city council in Narva, Estonia ‘s third – largest city, which borders Russia. Many buy antennas in online stores to get Russian channels and the most technologically advanced create their own VPNs, he added. Ilya Federov and Oleg’s father, who live in Narva, have connected one TV to a Russian satellite dish and another to an antenna, but only tune in to some of the programs they can receive. “I can only watch them for a maximum of 15 seconds because of the levels of aggression and paranoia and outrageous lies,” said Ilya Federov. “It ‘s crazy.” “Russian propaganda is deep and the majority of Narva residents believe what they hear on this news,” Oleg Federov said. But the Russian state media is not the only option. ETV +, a channel launched by Estonia Public Broadcasting in 2015, provides Russian-speaking Estonians with access to reliable news about their country and the world. Anchors for ETV + must be especially careful when covering the war. “Our viewers are ready to blame us or to charge us because they do not believe us,” said ETV + presenter Margarita Tanageva. “But we are ready to talk to them. I do not want to judge them … I am ready to give time to these people and make them believe me,” he said.
