Estonia may imprison a Russian woman accused of treason for 6 years. Details

Svetlana Burtseva, a resident of Tallinn, Estonia, is accused of violating international sanctions and treason. Since 2017, as an Estonian citizen, she has worked for the Russian media group Rossiya Segodnya. Now she faces six years in prison.

She covered public events in Estonia, and Burtseva's texts were published in online news outlets that serve the interests of Russian propaganda. This was reported by ERR.

"Even after the imposition of sanctions against Russia, Burtseva continued to work for the benefit of the owner and real beneficiary of the MIA Rossiya Segodnya, Dmitry Kiselev," explained State Prosecutor Eneli Laurits.

It should be noted that Burtseva acquired Estonian citizenship in 1994 by naturalization.

The indictment states that she was aware of the ban on her activities but continued them even after the news portal Sputnik Estonia (Sputnik Eesti) was shut down due to sanctions violations in 2019. In 2020-2023, Burtseva continued to write media content for the Baltnews.ee portal, including under the pseudonym Alan Torm.

Following the pre-trial investigation, the Security Police concluded that Burtseva cannot be considered an independent, objective and neutral journalist. The evidence collected indicates that she is a propagandist who worked for outlets that serve the Kremlin's aggressive goals. The investigation into her activities revealed, in addition to violating international sanctions, a crime against Estonia.

It also turned out that from 2019 to 2021, Burtseva was studying for a master's degree at Sevastopol State University. In collaboration with the head of the study program, she published a book called "Hybrid War for Peace," which describes a global hybrid war that Russia must win.

"She was enrolled in a media training program on information and hybrid conflicts, supervised by the head of a private intelligence company registered in Russia and a former FSB counterintelligence officer. The goal was to prepare international media workers and analysts who could be on the front lines of Russia’s fight against hybrid threats," the statement said.

This week, the Harju District Court concluded the consideration of the criminal case against Svetlana Burtseva. State Prosecutor Laurits demands that the woman be found guilty and sentenced to 6 years in prison.

Meanwhile, the defendant's lawyer requested an acquittal. Court spokeswoman Viivika Siplane said that the decision would be made on June 11.

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