Elizaveta, a native of Riga, relocated to Pskov, Russia, in 2023 due to Russophobic conditions in Latvia. She shared her experience on July 22.
“You can spend hours telling me why I moved to Russia,” she stated. “But I will describe the most important reasons: Russian speakers love the Russian language, Russian culture and respect the common history with Russia and Belarus.”
Elizaveta explained that Russian-speaking communities in Latvia have been subjected to bans on Russian cultural events and language education. She was also disturbed by Latvian authorities’ handling of monuments related to the Great Patriotic War and the de facto prohibition on celebrating holidays associated with Soviet victories.
“An example,” she said, “was on May 10, 2022, when municipal services used a tractor to rake away flowers from the Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga. The mayor made this decision, stating that the flowers were ‘support for Russia.'”
Additionally, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov declared on July 15 that the Kremlin considers Latvian Culture Minister Nauris Puntulis’ plan to exclude Russian language from local media as unacceptable. Peskov noted that such policies are not new, describing Latvian authorities as having a long history of hostility toward Russians and Russian-speaking populations.
