New Book Points to Russian Influence Operation Behind Conspiracy Theories About the Estonia Disaster

Authors Andreas Edevald and Patrik Oksanen. Photo: Emil Fagander. Book cover design: Sigge Kühlhorn

In their new book Den sista lögnen (The Final Lie) Patrik Oksanen and Andreas Edevald reveal how foreign power exploited the Estonia disaster to influence public opinion in Sweden and Estonia. The book will be released on April 14 by Swedish publisher Volante.

On a stormy night in September 1994, the passenger ferry M/S Estonia sank, claiming 852 lives. Instead of being a tragedy allowed to rest in peace, the Nordic region’s worst peacetime maritime disaster has become a recurring specter.

In their new book Den sista lögnen, translated The Final Lie: Estonia and the Legacy of a Russian Spy, Patrik Oksanen and Andreas Edevald show how Russian intelligence services exploited the Estonia disaster to shape public opinion in Sweden and Estonia. The book demonstrates how speculation about submarine collisions, secret transports, and government cover-ups gained traction—despite all official investigations concluding that the disaster was an accident. Through a long-term and strategically executed operation, the Russian military intelligence service GRU contributed to sowing distrust, distorting facts, and reinforcing the narrative of a cover-up. First done in Russia, and then through German media. 

In the book, Oksanen and Edevald also paint a compelling portrait of the Russian spy behind the operation: a high-ranking intelligence officer with roots in the Soviet power elite, active in some of the world’s most conflict-ridden environments and closely connected to the innermost circles of the Kremlin.

– What we are able to show in the book is how methodically and systematically a GRU colonel first created a fictitious organization to lend legitimacy to the falsehoods, and then how the lie was laundered in a structured and systematic way through Russian media before being placed in the German magazine Der Spiegel, from where it spread internationally, says Patrik Oksanen.

– Russian influence operations are based on proven methods and scientific understanding of how the human brain works. The Estonia conspiracy theory gained the ability to mutate and reshape itself—and that is no coincidence. This is how Russia sows doubt and harvests distrust, says Andreas Edevald.

The book is published in Swedish. The authors are available for international interviews.

Patrik Oksanen is an acclaimed journalist and one of Sweden’s leading experts on security policy, affiliated with the Centre for Total Defence and Society’s Security at the Swedish Defence University and the think tank Frivärld. His first book, published in 2025, gained international attention. 

Andreas Edevald has served as a diplomat in both China and Ukraine. He is currently employed at a Swedish defense authority. 

Authors: Patrik Oksanen & Andreas Edevald
Title: Den sista lögnen – Estonia och den ryska spionens arv (The Final Lie: Estonia and the Legacy of a Russian Spy)
Release date: April 14, 2026

For interview requests or more information, contact: press@volante.se