In pro-Russian segments of social media, a fake story is being spread about an alleged new law in Estonia that supposedly obliges citizens to report relatives in Russia or Belarus to the government and bans having more than three such family ties.

Analysts from the StopFake project drew attention to this claim.

In the fake quote, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna is allegedly said to have called this a “national security measure” that balances “humanity” with the “protection of sovereignty based on non-traditional family values”.

This information is not true. No reputable Estonian media outlet or official government resource has reported such an initiative. The original source of the fake is a Telegram post by Gennady Afanasyev, signed as the “Estonian Curiosities Agency ‘Ahead of Events’”. Afanasyev, a resident of Narva, served as the city’s deputy mayor in 1999–2000 and later took part in the activities of pro-Russian organizations such as the Russian Party of Estonia and the European Russian Alliance. Since 2005, he has been banned from entering Latvia due to activities aimed at strengthening Russian influence in the Baltic region.

Today, Afanasyev does not hold any political office but actively maintains a Facebook page where he publishes pro-Russian “satirical” content. His posts often contain barely noticeable satire disclaimers, which leads many Russian-speaking users to perceive them as factual. The Estonian anti-propaganda blog Propastop has previously noted that Afanasyev’s posts are aimed at radicalizing public discourse, promoting anti-Western narratives, and increasing informational pressure on Estonian society, especially ahead of local elections.