In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce an Estonian politician and propagandist, Aivo Peterson. He’s best-known for travelling to Donbas and Mariupol to produce pro-Kremlin propaganda, and for trying to create a pro-Russia separatist movement in Estonia.

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Peterson is what I call a “decoy vatnik” – someone who’s so overtly pro-Kremlin that their activities draw a lot of attention (think Johan Bäckman in Finland), and the Putin bootlickers who work through business and politics can operate in peace.

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Aivo hails from Ida-Viru, a region populated mostly by Russians. His father was Russian – his birthname was Krylov, but he later took his mother’s surname Peterson. Before becoming a full-time Kremlin propagandist, he worked as a border guard, masseur & real estate agent.

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Peterson was dismissed from his job as a border guard due to healthreasons in 2004 & he had already joined politics in 2002.

Aivo had no real success in politics for around 20 years, but hispopularity rose quickly after Russia’s full-scale invasion ofUkraine in 2022.
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A few months after Russia’s attack, Aivo joined forces with a crypto-businessman, Oleg Ivanov, and together they launcheda “peace movement” called Koos (Вместе, “Together”). The launch was accompanied with typical Kremlin bullshit, like calling the Bucha…

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…massacre a “staged provocation”, blaming the West and the US for starting a “proxy war” and “using Ukraine, the Baltics and Poland as vassal states” to wage war against Russia. All this was mostly promoted to Estonia’s Russian-speaking population, and most Estonians…

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…weren’t even aware of this active campaigning, probably administrated by the more tech-savvy Mr. Ivanov. Peterson also organized several dramatic demonstrations, like taking down pro-Ukraine memorabilia that were brought as a protest to the Russian embassy in Tallinn.

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It’s worth noting that when people like Peterson talk about “peace”, they only call for stopping the military aid to Ukraine (and basically a capitulation), and neatly forget the aggressor and the fact that Putin has shown very little interest in any kind of peace talks.

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In February 2023, Peterson also traveled to Donbas in Eastern Ukraine, also visiting Mariupol. According to the Estonian prosecutor, the trip was organized by the Russian intelligence agencies. He also appeared on Solovyov’s propaganda show.

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As Koos failed to register their candidates before the deadline for the 2023 parliament elections, they joined forces with Vasakliit, a direct descendant party of the soviet-occupation communist party. The union earned a record high 2.4% votes, qualifying for state funding.
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Peterson was arrested in March 2023, on suspicion of creating a pro-Kremlin “civilian defense unit” in Estonia, allegedly recruiting people with gun permits and “anti-Estonian attitudes”. He was arrested before he had the chance to launch the organization.

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Peterson is accused of treason for “knowingly and systematically assisting Russia based on directives from the Russian Federation,” for which he could face a prison sentence ranging from 6 to 20 years or even life imprisonment.

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Despite imprisonment, Peterson ran for the European Parliament in 2024 as the sole Koos party candidate. He released a campaign video from prison, urging voters to support his cause and demand his release. For the elections, he received a total of 11 507 votes.

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Since his arrest, Aivo has changed some of his statements – for example, he stated that “Russia is the aggressor” and that he “only wants peace”.

The cynical among us could think that Peterson knows he’s done as a Russian asset and now fights for a shorter sentence.

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I think we can safely say that Aivo’s and other pro-Kremlin candidates’ success in Estonian elections indicate that Estonia has a very strong “fifth column” that has no problem in supporting Russia’s brutal war and whitewashing their war crimes.

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The Fifth column

This may come as a surprise to many, as Estonia as a country has been one of the biggest donors (% of total GDP) to Ukraine. But it also shows us how Russian propaganda can brainwash a Russian-speaking fifth column outside of Russia, too.

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You can now pre-order the 2nd edition of "Vatnik Soup – The Ultimate Guide to Russian Disinformation"! This updated version, featuring pre-order extras, will be released at the end of February 2025.

Pre-order your copy here:

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