Even before the war in Ukraine, Estonian readers were very interested in neighbouring Russia – a country more than 300 times size of Estonia – and in Russian politics and especially Rusisan foreign policy. Understanding Russia is a challenge for average Estonian reader as it requires expertise, inside knowledge, and independent and reliable sources.
With support from NewsSpectrum, major daily Estonian newspaper Eesti Päevaleht teamed with NewsSpectrum Fellow Vadim Štepa, a Russian-speaking journalist and analyst, to produce and translate into Estonian a series of articles on regional politics and historical perspective of Russia, showing how the seemingly monolithic empire that Russia has grown into faces huge tensions and challenges inside.
The series of nine articles published in a period of three months (December to February 2022) received a lot of attention, engagement, and positive feedback from readers.
Krister Paris, a special correspondent in Eesti Päevaleht’s opinion department, worked closely with Vadim to provide accurate translation and adapt the analysis to the paper’s readers. Vadim will continue to cooperate with Eesti Päevaleht as a regular contributor.