The Estonian tech community has created a service that lets you email random Russian email addresses to tell them what is happening in the war in Ukraine – as many Russians only get their information from the Russian propaganda channels and don’t believe there even is a war going on in Ukraine.
The website, called pravdamail.com, calls on people to send pre-written emails to random Russians about the war in Ukraine, saying that “[m]any in Russia continue to support dictator [Vladimir] Putin because they only know the ‘facts’ from state propaganda.”
“Use this site to let them know what’s really going on. We’ve collected more than a million Russian email addresses just for that.”
The website says five to ten emails at a time works best.
“If you don’t like the email we’ve pre-written for you, just click on the ‘Choose a different text’ button and a new one will be suggested.”
On the website, there’s a FAQ, “Is it legal?” The answer to that: “It’s an order of magnitude more legal than invading another country.”
There have been reports in the media that when Ukrainians in Ukraine try to tell their relatives of friends in Russia – even in Moscow – that there is a real war going on, the Ukrainian cities are being bombarded to the oblivion and thousands of civilians are being murdered, then the people in Russia refuse to believe it.
Russia has also outlawed speaking against the war and people who spread “fake news” – ie speak against the Russian official narrative – can face a prison sentence for up to 15 years.
Read also: Live updates: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – reactions in Estonia.
