7-year sentence handed down to Oleg Bessedin for anti-Estonia activities
A court has found a pro-Kremlin propagandist guilty of crimes against Estonia's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The first-tier Harju County Court on Monday found Oleg Bessedin guilty, and also convicted him of repeated violations of international sanctions, under a plea agreement made last week.
The court found that the plea agreement complied with the law and had been entered into voluntarily, and approved it. Under the ruling, the state will confiscate €77,104.32 worth of assets owned by Bessedin. Procedural costs totaling €3,195.80 will also be covered from these seized funds.
The ruling follows a plea bargain reached with the Office of the Prosecutor General on the first day of Bessedin's trial, last Tuesday, September 22. He was arrested in November 2025 and has been detained in custody since then.
Bessedin, 52, was charged with activities against Estonia's national security, including spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda and distributing sanctioned Russian content, dating back to May 2022 and in coordination with Russian state organs and individuals involved in influence operations.
The activities entailed producing and disseminating narratives justifying Russia's war of aggression, false claims and fear-mongering rhetoric, primarily via a YouTube channel, with the aim of dividing Estonian society, reducing trust in state institutions and undermining support for NATO and the EU.
Bessedin was also found guilty of repeatedly violating sanctions imposed under Council of the European Union Regulation No. 269/2014 by allowing the TV channel TVN, which he controlled, to broadcast a program from a sanctioned Russian media outlet; publishing content linked to a sanctioned media outlet on his social media platform; transferring the screening rights to three of his films to a sanctioned Russian state media agency; and helping to launch a television channel through which content from Russian television channels under EU sanctions was broadcast.
Initially, under the plea agreement, he was to forfeit more than €73,000 in assets and serve seven years in prison. The court's ruling on Monday approved this agreement. The Harju County Court ruling has not yet entered into force.
--
Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!
Editor: Andrew Whyte
