Conspiratorial Thinking among Russian Speakers in Estonia: From COVID-19 to the War in Ukraine

Abstract

This research stems from ethnographic interviews about COVID-19 conspiracy theories that uncovered that the interviewees (members of the Russophone minority residing in Estonia) perceived a significant connection between the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. I analyze major themes that bring two conspiracy theories together, one theory about the pandemic and the other about the war in Ukraine—and other narratives that tend to gravitate toward them to form a system of vernacular knowledge. I also explore the reasons and vulnerabilities behind this group's beliefs in conspiracy theories.