Propaganda campaign started
“Narva People’s Republic”: Russia targets NATO territory
March 17, 2026 – 10:04 amReading time: 2 minutes
There are calls on social media to establish a separate “people’s republic” in an EU region. The propaganda comes from Russia.
Russia has begun a propaganda campaign to establish a “Narva People’s Republic” in Estonia. This is reported by the Estonian anti-propaganda medium “Propastop”. Accordingly, new accounts emerged on social media last month that advocated the separation of the Estonian regions of Narwa and Ida-Virumaa from the EU country.
The accounts on Telegram, TikTok and the Russian-based social network VKontakte, the channels called “People’s Republic of Narva” share content that at first glance appears to be a mix of memes, cat pictures and provocative jokes. However, upon closer inspection, there are separatist symbols, militaristic images and political messages that spread the clear narrative of Narva as an independent political entity, according to “Propastop”. The accounts therefore propagate the idea of establishing a so-called “Narva People’s Republic”.
The movement on social media has its own symbolism of a green-black-white and a black-green-white flag, which are called “state symbols of the Narva People’s Republic.” The accounts also spread their own coat of arms in the same colors and an “Anthem of the People’s Republic of Narva”.
One of the widespread images shows armed figures with the Russian inscription “The Russian land stretches from Narva to Püssi.” Püssi is also an Estonian town located around 70 kilometers east of Narwa. Other maps distributed by the accounts also show the Estonian Narva region as a separate territory between Estonia and Russia.
The accounts openly promote the goal of having the Estonian region recognized as an autonomous region, ostensibly to preserve Russian identity in the region. They actively encourage their followers to distribute movement materials and leaflets.
