Main narratives:
- Baltic states are Nazi;
- Latvia is irrationally Russophobic;
- Latvia falsifies history textbooks in schools.
Overview:
Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels made several unfounded accusations against the Baltic states and Latvia in particular. These claims included false assertions that the Baltic States are Nazi and support Nazism in Ukraine (while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine constitutes “denazification” on behalf of the Baltic states). The propaganda also baselessly accuses Latvia’s government of deliberately reducing its population to comply with alleged “Brussels” (European Union) conspiratory secret directives.
Some of the most popular posts accused Latvian school textbooks of “falsification of history” without providing any evidence or argumentation behind these claims. Another popular post used a manipulation method called hahaganda – the use of jokes and humor in propaganda. It ridiculed Prime Minister of Latvia Evika Silina, ironizing that criticisms of an “elite escort and a failed star” towards Russia have the “Kremlin in a panic”.
These messages appear designed to discredit Baltic opposition to Russian policies by portraying these states as both supporters of Nazism and irrationally hostile to Russia.
