Narva is no longer just a border between two cities. Narva has become a stage.
Every spring, almost the same scene repeats itself. On the opposite bank of the Narva River, music plays, flags wave, screens show military victory symbols, and loudspeakers broadcast messages directed across the border. On the Estonian side, people gather along the riverside promenade to watch. Journalists, TV crews, and photographers arrive. Within hours, the same footage appears on the BBC, Reuters, German television news, and across social media.
It is often described as just another “9 May in Narva” story. In reality, something much bigger is happening. Narva is not being used only to influence Estonia. It has become a propaganda stage for the entire Western media space.
Piir kui teater
People watch the Victory Day concert taking place across the river in the Russian town of Ivangorod from Narva, Estonia, on 9 May 2023.
Modern propaganda no longer works only through texts and slogans. A huge part of its impact is now created visually. What matters is not only what is being said, but how it looks on camera. Narva is almost perfectly suited for this. On one side of the river: the European Union, NATO, and the Estonian flag. On the other: Russian symbols, the Soviet victory myth, and militarised patriotism. Between the two riverbanks emerges an image that is almost irresistible to international media. It is an easily readable conflict. One river, two worlds.
That is why the main target of the Ivangorod concerts, giant screens, and propaganda messages directed across the river is not necessarily the people of Narva themselves. Much more important is the way these events function as media imagery.
When Reuters or AFP publishes a photo of the Narva River with European flags waving on one side while a military victory concert takes place on the other, that image reaches dozens of countries within hours. Narva becomes a symbol. Not simply an Estonian border town, but a geopolitical metaphor. And that is exactly where the real power lies.
Propaganda no longer has to convince people through long articles. Sometimes, a single carefully staged image is enough.
Narva as a Psychological Operation
For Russia, Narva is exceptionally useful precisely because it carries several meanings at once.
First, it allows the Kremlin to show its domestic audience that the so-called “Russian world” does not end at Russia’s borders. Even on the edge of the European Union, there is a Russian-speaking city around which narratives can be built about historical influence, cultural space, and the memory of the Second World War.
Second, Narva helps create a constant impression for Western audiences that the Baltic region is tense and fragile. When international media show the same images every year from the confrontation along the Narva River, it gradually creates the perception that a permanent fault line exists there.
This is psychologically important.
Even when nothing actually happens, repeated visuals can still produce a sense of instability. Propaganda does not work only through lies. Emotional atmosphere matters just as much. Once people begin to perceive a region as a permanent crisis zone, the effect has already been achieved.
Third, Narva creates a situation in which almost every Estonian reaction can be turned into new propaganda material for Russia.
If Estonia reacts harshly, the story becomes one of the “oppression of Russian-speaking residents.” If Estonia reacts calmly, it can be framed as proof that Russia is symbolically dominating the Estonian border. If Estonian media cover the event extensively, they help amplify the narrative. If coverage remains limited, it becomes possible to claim that Estonia is afraid to acknowledge the problem.
In information warfare, that kind of situation is extremely valuable.
Why Western Media Loves Narva
Narva’s impact is not created by Russian propaganda alone. Western media itself also plays an important role.
For international journalists, Narva is an ideal story. It is visually powerful, geographically simple, and emotionally easy to understand. No long background explanation is needed. The image speaks for itself.
That is why the same shots are used almost every time. Drone footage of the river. People facing each other across the border. Flags. Police. Evening light. Music echoing across the water.
These are not random details. They work because they create a strong symbolic contrast.
Delfi journalist Ana Daukševitš was in Narva, Estonia, on 9 May, listened to the concert taking place across the river in the Russian town of Ivangorod, and shared her impressions of what she saw.
Narva is being turned into a kind of “new Cold War border.” This happens even though everyday life in the city is in reality far calmer and more ordinary than television images might suggest.
And this is where the paradox appears.
Western media often simply wants to show geopolitical tension, but at the same time it also helps amplify the image Russia wants to project. The more Narva is portrayed as a border between civilizations, the more deeply the idea takes hold that it is somehow a special and potentially unstable region.
Narva becomes a symbol even when nobody explicitly plans for it to happen.
Who Benefits From All of This?
The simplest answer would be to say that the Kremlin benefits. In reality, the situation is far more complicated.
Russia gains an opportunity to demonstrate its influence and sustain the narrative of a historic confrontation with the West. Russian propaganda channels get emotionally charged images of the “Russian world living on Europe’s border.” Local Telegram channels gain followers. International media gets a dramatic story. Security analysts gain a case study in Russian psychological operations. Extremist commentators use Narva as evidence to support their own worldview. Everyone uses the same stage, but for different purposes.
This is one of the most important changes in the modern propaganda environment. An influence operation is no longer just a centrally controlled message. It has become an ecosystem in which the same visual, the same event, or the same video starts producing entirely different meanings through different actors.
Narva is an ideal place for this because it is no longer just a city on Estonia’s eastern border. Narva has become a symbol used simultaneously in Russian domestic politics, Western media narratives, information warfare, and the shaping of geopolitical fears.
A report from Narva, where on 9 May one half of the city celebrated Victory Day with the concert echoing from Russia’s Ivangorod, while the other marked Europe Day.
Photo caption: Tower of Narva Castle
