Oleg Bessedin is suspected of two crimes – violating international sanctions and anti-state activities.

"We have outlined in the charges that Oleg Bessedin's activities on YouTube were often coordinated with various individuals in the Russian Federation, including people who specialize in the Russian Federation's influence activities, and we believe that this cooperation was not accidental," said Estonia's State Prosecutor Taavi Pern.

Harju County Court agreed with the Prosecutor's argument that there is a strong risk Bessedin could continue conducting similar activities should he be released, as he still has the relevant connections to do so.

The court also noted that there is a risk Bessedin could flee to Russia. Although he has family ties in Estonia, he has professional contacts in Russia.

Bessedin was assigned a public defender, Natalia Lausmaa, who said the defendant does not admit guilt.

The court noted that hundreds of thousands of Russian rubles were found in Bessedin's home during a police search.

Bessedin is a well-known figure in Estonia's Russian-speaking community. He created the popular Facebook group "Tallinlased" and a YouTube channel with hundreds of thousands of followers. Both of those activities have now been suspended.

According to Olesja Lagašina, editor-in-chief of, Delovõje Vedomosti, a Russian-language financial newspaper published in Estonia, both the Facebook group and YouTube channel created by Bessedin are full of Russian propaganda. "If we look at who the subscribers are, they are local Russian people who are very embittered and don't like what is happening here in Estonia," she said.

According to Lagašina, Bessedin is a friend of Oleg Ivanov, a pro-Kremlin information warrior former leader of the KOOS party, who has already fled to Russia. Bessedin also has ties to Metropolitan Eugene, who was expelled from Estonia, and has been mentioned several times in the Internal Security Service's (ISS) annual reports.

"Russian-speaking journalists have talked a lot among themselves about how this is even possible. He is quite openly involved in Russian propaganda, so why hadn't he been arrested yet? But if we look at what has happened recently, I personally think that it could be related, for example, to a story, which appeared in Eesti Ekspress saying that a Russian state fund is essentially financing the activities of Bessedin's family," Lagašina said.

Internal Security Service (ISS) Director Harrys Puusepp said the prerequisite for bringing charges against anyone is having solid evidence.

"We do not bring charges against people in Estonia based on what something seems to be or what someone thinks, but we talk only about specific evidence. This could be confirmation that a person's activities are disturbing to the public, but we only bring charges when we have evidence to support them," Puusepp said.

According to Puusepp, Bessedin has had the opportunity to change his behavior over a long period of time but has not done so. Although the current suspicion concerns activities committed in 2022, it cannot be ruled out that the time period will be extended following criminal proceedings.

On November 4, Estonia's Internal Security Service (ISS) detained Oleg Bessedin – a well-known pro-Kremlin propagandist – on suspicion of non-violent activities against the Republic of Estonia and violation of international sanctions.

According to the suspicion, Bessedin has been involved in Russian information influence activities since at least 2022, in cooperation with people acting in the interests of Russian special services, the State Prosecutor's Office said.

Among other things, Bessedin is suspected of repeatedly disseminating content from sanctioned Russian media outlets. This constitutes EU sanctions violations and non-violent activity counter to Estonian interests.

The pre-trial proceedings are being conducted by the ISS and led by the State Prosecutor's Office.

More background details about the case can be seen here.

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