"We have probably never seen such totalitarianism at work, nowhere, even in Arab countries", Margarita Simonyan said at Rossiya-1’s "60 Minutes" show.
She claimed that job seekers coming to Sputnik’s Estonian office were routinely brought in for questioning by the Estonian counterintelligence.
"Estonia uses all means of leverage, ranging from the closure of bank accounts to intimidation by security agencies, to stop us and our Sputnik from working there", Simonyan explained.
"We have never come under such pressure in any country other than Estonia. So here is a taste of your Europe and your famous European democracy," she added.
Russian media in Estonia and its two Baltic neighbors have been frequently targeted by authorities. The Russian Foreign Ministry has accused the EU member state trio of a coordinated crackdown and disregard for freedom of expression.