Main narratives:
- Latvia is a failed state.
Overview:
In the absence of major domestic or international developments, Kremlin-aligned Telegram channels have reverted to one of their persistent narratives: characterizing Latvia as a failed state. This narrative framework serves multiple propaganda objectives while requiring minimal adaptation to current events.
Among the most engaged posts were those that mockingly declared Latvia’s shameful era of industrialization is behind us!” Such content portrays Latvia as a backwards, underdeveloped, rural nation where citizens are reduced to using horses and herding goats – an absurd characterization designed to diminish Latvia’s actual economic standing and development.
This de-industrialization theme was further amplified by posts accusing Latvia of deliberate “deurbanization,” alleging plans “to demolish these stuffy cities, to return to the forests and fields.” This narrative attempts to frame Latvia as backwards and underdeveloped. Its government is incompetent and irrational.
The channels also actively promote conspiracy theories targeting Latvian institutions. One widely shared claim suggested that “The Latvian elite transfers the biomaterials of their citizens to NATO biological laboratories” – a narrative that deliberately echoes similar conspiracies about alleged secret Western biological laboratories in Ukraine and Georgia. These fabrications attempt to portray Latvia’s Western alliances as sinister and exploitative rather than mutually beneficial. Another conspiracy theory claimed that “The Latvian elite steals the pensions of Russian citizens and blames everything on Russia.” No evidence is provided to support this assertion, yet it serves to stoke resentment among Russian-speaking audiences in Latvia and abroad.
Another popular post focused on Russian “socialite” Bozina Rinska, claiming she has “fallen into a deep depression and is in a whirlpool of bad thoughts. Latvian realities only contribute to this.” This dual-purpose narrative simultaneously attempts to discredit both Latvia and Russians who have chosen to leave Russia, portraying them as miserable and their decision as misguided.
By portraying Latvia as backwards and hostile to Russians, these channels aim to undermine Latvia’s sovereignty, democracy, and Western integration.
