Putin's specter over Estonia? They want “autonomy” and are asking Internet users for support

They publish NRL symbols – a flag with the colors black, green and white, a crest with an eagle, the anthem “Fly on the Wings of the Wind” – as well as militaristic memes. These included, among others: “Plan of the day of the Narew militia”, assuming an assault on Narva at 9.00, capture of other cities of Eastern Viruma at 3.00 p.m. and a concert of the pro-war Russian artist and blogger Akim Apachev at 8 p.m.

“The spread of such ideas in the Estonian information space means in practice normalizing the narrative about the secession of part of the state's territory and separatism,” Propastop concludes.

The discovery attracted the attention of journalists and politicians. “Criminal Consequences”

The most popular website in Estonia, Delfi, wrote about the case, and the matter was commented on by Kristen Michal (calling it a Russian information operation) and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (assuring that Narva was and will remain an Estonian city).

The Estonian Security Police Department (KAPO) described the NRL project as a “simple and cheap” information operation aimed at weakening the unity of Estonian society. At the same time, KAPO warned that participation in this project “may result in criminal consequences”.

Indrek Kiisler, head of the radio news editorial office of the Estonian public broadcaster ERR, believes that journalists and politicians unnecessarily devoted so much attention to the “Narewa People's Republic”turning a marginal topic into a seriously discussed issue:

— Of course, there is an information war going on, and certainly in Russia special operations are planned every day against Estonia and the entire West. This is beyond doubt. […] This makes elementary professionalism even more necessary distinguish garbage from truly dangerous matters. This time we are dealing with a failure, about which tens of thousands of people found out about it through the media and the Prime Minister, he said.

Propastop disagreed with Kiisler's opinion:

Similar “blind spots” and self-censorship do not work in the modern information society, where every idea sooner or later reaches the public opinion anyway. Silence would put Estonians in a situation where they would learn about such narratives accidentally, without context, or when such a narrative would become part of a broader information attack.

“Unfortunately, we are not a Kremlin project.” The creators of the profile are asking for donations

Anyway, after the publication on the Propastop blog and other articles, the number of subscribers to the telegram channel “Narewa People's Republic” actually increased. When the Propastop entry was written (as the blog itself writes), there were 60-70 of them, and when Meduza prepared the article, there were over 800.

Due to the increased media interest, the channel once again clarified its goals (“We are not in favor of the separation of Narva, Ida-Virumaa from Estonia. We are in favor of autonomy or at least the equalization of 'Russian non-citizens' with Estonians”) and asked subscribers for donations (“Unfortunately, we are not a Kremlin project”).

Despite the growing popularity of the NRL channel, the Estonian newspaper “Postimees” concludes that it is “nothing more than a clumsily conducted information operation”. The journalists came to this conclusion after talking to the channel's administrators, claiming to be NRL supporters. They suggested agitating others to join the group, as well as printing and distributing leaflets. “This cardboard separatism is a self-financing project,” summarizes “Postimees”.

Who administers the profiles of the “Narewa People's Republic” is still unclear. “Postimees” points out that the NRL group on the wKontaktie platform was previously called Blindaż 78. On Telegram there is channel of the same name, whose posts are devoted to the war between Russia and Ukraine and nostalgia for the USSR. The posts mention St. Petersburg. The channel is anonymous, but the first few publications mention the author – Ilya Boykov. However, “Postimees” does not specify who this person is and whether he is related to the profiles of the “Narewa People's Republic”.

In Narva itself, the idea is met with skepticism. “We will end up like in Transnistria”

This is not a new topic. In 1993 the city authorities tried to hold a referendum on granting Narva an autonomous status within Estonia. The initiator was the chairman of the Narva city council, Vladimir Chuikin. As a Russian citizen, he could no longer stand for election in Estonia. The reason for the referendum was not only the restrictions on the political rights of the Russian-speaking population, but also the difficult economic situation in the first years after the collapse of the USSR.

The referendum took place in July 1993. According to data from the Narva local government, 54 percent of voters took part. entitled to vote, of which 97 percent supported autonomy. A similar vote took place in Sillamae, another town in the Eastern Virumaa region. There, the turnout was 60 percent, and support for autonomy was 98.6 percent. But The Estonian Supreme Court declared the referendum illegal.

Indrek Tarand, who was the special representative of the Estonian government in Narva during the referendum, openly said that Nothing came of this initiative simply because there were no Russian troops thereand Russia itself was then absorbed in internal political conflicts.

In today's Narva, the idea of ​​a “people's republic” is also viewed with skepticismwhich is confirmed by a Delfi survey conducted on the streets of the city.

— Now it's unrealistic that we can live normally as a separate country, said one of the participants.