Erkki Johan Bäckman (born 18 May 1971) is a Finnish political activist, author, legal sociologist, propagandist, and convicted stalker working for the Russian Government. Bäckman has been a prominent Finnish propagandist in Russia who has actively participated in long-standing operations to propagate anti-Finnish and anti-Western propaganda in Russia. Bäckman has contentious views about Estonia, Latvia and Ukraine, and has been declared persona non grata and denied entry into Estonia, and has been expelled from Moldova. His books have been the subject of debate about Finnish-Soviet relations during the Cold War, the war history of Finland and the Soviet Union, organized crime in Estonia and the Russian Mafia, terrorism, and the history of Estonia. As a proclaimed spokesman for the Finnish Anti-Fascist Committee, he is against the integration policies of Estonia and Latvia, claiming they are "apartheid policies". On the whole, he does not recognize Estonia and Latvia as states. Bäckman has supported Russia in the Russo-Ukrainian War. During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine he has given statements to Russian media about the anti-Russian sentiment of the European Union and Britain. Bäckman has also claimed that Ukraine as a nation does not exist. Bäckman has been a commentator in Russian media about Russian citizens' child custody rights abroad. He has a title of a docent in sociology of law from the University of Helsinki. He also has a title of a docent in criminology at the University of Turku and the University of Eastern Finland. Russia Bäckman has been a prominent Finnish propagandist in Russia who has actively taken part in long-standing operations to propagate anti-Finnish and anti-Western propaganda in Russia. His activity was tracked and reported by Helsingin Sanomat as part of an international investigative journalism collaboration project. The project was coordinated by OCCRP, a network of journalists specializing in crime and corruption, and The Intercept organization. As revealed by the project, Bäckman has for years provided the Russian state radio and television company VGTRK with news material and bulletins defaming Finland and other Western countries. VGTRK is the Kremlin's most important propaganda and disinformation disseminator which controls all of Russia's largest radio and television channels. Former Finnish Ambassador to Russia Hannu Himanen believes that Bäckman works as part of a global propaganda and disinformation network built by Russia. Bäckman has frequently travelled to Russia since 1993, and is fluent in Russian. In 2000, he established a publishing institution