Russian propagandist sentenced to six years in prison in Estonia
Svitlana Burtseva (Photo: Priit Mürk/ERR)

An Estonian court has found Tallinn resident Svitlana Burtseva guilty of high treason and violation of international sanctions and sentenced her to six years in prison, ERR reports .

The court found that Svetlana Burtseva had been cooperating for several years with the Russian state agency RIA "Russia Today", headed by sanctioned propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov.

Burtseva wrote articles and provided photographic materials for Baltnews and RIA, thereby "providing the subject of sanctions access to economic resources," which is prohibited by the EU Council Regulation of March 17, 2014.

It was also established that Burtseva maintained contacts with Roman Romachev, a reserve officer of the Russian Federal Security Service, who heads the private intelligence company R-Techno.

As part of this cooperation, the book "Hybrid War for Peace" was written and published, which the court found to be propaganda and aimed at undermining trust in the Estonian authorities and destabilizing society, which constitutes treason.

Burtseva was sentenced to six years in prison for two crimes. The sentence runs from the date of her arrest, February 28, 2024.

The verdict did not enter into force, as the convicted woman has 30 days to appeal.

Burtseva previously worked as a journalist for the online publication Sputnik Eesti, which ceased operations in Estonia in 2019 due to sanctions. Since 2023, she has been a member of the Koos party, one of whose leaders, Ivo Peterson, is on trial for treason.

  • On April 11, 2024, the Main Intelligence Directorate reported that the Kremlin had increased funding for domestic propaganda regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war to $500 million per year. This includes funding for structures that are not formally affiliated with the state, but produce content that the Kremlin regime needs in the form of blogs, news, films, TV series, video games, etc.
  • On May 21, it was reported that the SBU documented new crimes committed by Russian propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov and informed him in absentia of a new suspicion under four articles. In particular, he is suspected of war propaganda and encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ukraine.