What do Russians in Estonia think about Putin's war in Ukraine? | Focus on Europe

Alexander klochenkov always has his camera with him when he's out and about in his hometown of narva on estonia's eastern border the Russian town of Ivan garod lies across the river NATO an EU member Estonia is connected to Russia via a bridge these days even less traffic than usual is passing through here that makes 36 year old pluchenkov sad like most of narva's inhabitants he is Russian the war against Ukraine is a thorny issue here I think that most Russians who live here in Estonia say this is our homeland but there are many opinions here on this Ukraine issue some are against it others are for it there are Fierce discussions especially on social media many Russians here have relatives on the other side they greatly distrust to the Western media many watch Russian TV channels in their propaganda shapes the image of the Ukraine war after eight years of suffering and donbass Russia has liberated these territories from the Ukrainian nationalists they just launched a special Liberation operation if Russia had not intervened the situation would have only got worse Alexander klochenkov does not necessarily share these views but he still believes it's good to follow Russian news sources on the war in Ukraine it's important in this conflict to get your information from different sources you can only get information from Russian TV stations but also not only from CNN BBC or Deutsche Vela the truth lies somewhere in the middle but for most estonians and the government the responsibility for the war lies squarely with Russian President Vladimir Putin estonians these days are glad to be in NATO this small country hopes that its NATO membership were protected from Russian aggression Britain has increased the number of its soldiers in Estonia and on Independence Day in Thailand in late February the country defiantly displayed its Readiness to defend itself the Estonian foreign Ministry says Putin is probably trying to win over the Russian minority in Estonia but insists it has no doubts about the Loyalty of the Russians in Estonia no concerned with regards to any Estonian citizens but at the same time it is true the divisions that we have within our societies which are normal because we are democracies these divisions are always being used by those who counter us I shall say but more and more Russians in Estonia are distancing themselves from Moscow in narva estonians and Russians demonstrate together in front of the Russian Consulate General members of the younger generation in particular see themselves as estonians of Russian descent and want nothing to do with Putin's War E I am really shocked I follow the news all day on various kinds of media and all sorts of different channels I am shocked that in the 21st century Wars are still possible in Europe I think it will affect to everyone because Putin will not stop all of this and he already said that he will go to them my sister was born in 1940 during World War II my parents experienced the war too my entire family was affected none of us want war we are against the war and against those who started it for Alexander kluchenkov there is no question of taking part in any demonstrations he believes that would only create more unrest in narva he prefers to concentrate on his work as a photographer the demonstration seem like theater Productions to me but of course it's still important for people to express their opinions it's always better to talk to have a dialogue and not a warlock enkov feels the same as most Russians in Estonia they don't want to have to choose between east and west and the war in Ukraine has not changed that

Channel: DW News

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Id: C29ugQqjsG8

Length: 5min 0sec (300 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 06 2022