Russia has intensified disinformation and propaganda operations against Western countries, including Latvia. According to the Latvian television program De facto, the Russian intelligence services are using Latvian residents, who can be recruited in Telegram channels or during trips to Russia, to disseminate the narratives they have created. The typical perpetrators of the tasks are people with low incomes and those who want to earn money, and more and more often young people.
In early November, videographer and blogger Oleg Besedin was arrested in Estonia. For a long time, he had been cooperating with propaganda media in Moscow, at the same time producing documentaries and stories in line with Kremlin rhetoric. Although Besedin's name has regularly appeared in Estonian security service reports since 2010, it has only now been possible to gather evidence of the order from Moscow.
For example, in one of Besedin's recent YouTube posts, pro-Kremlin blogger Roman Samul, who fled Latvia, complained about Latvian security services, while Pavel Astakhov, former children's rights commissioner in the Russian presidential administration, expressed discontent over "discrimination of the Russian language" in Europe.
Estonian State Prosecutor Taavi Pern explained the reasons for Besedin's detention:
"Oleg Besedin is suspected of participating in information influence campaigns by cooperating with people who live and work in Russia.
That is, it is not just a question of him expressing his opinion about Estonia or other Baltic states – he does it in cooperation with persons in Russia. According to our suspicions, these people specialize in information campaigns".
Erki Korts, head of the Estonian Institute of Internal Security, adds:
Besedin probably received quite specific instructions – how to act, which stories to publish, which topics to cover and which political directions to support.
This scenario is very familiar to Latvian citizen Marat Kasemu, who used to be the editor-in-chief of the Russian propaganda project Sputnik Lithuania. When the State Security Service (SGB) detained him, he pleaded guilty, but now he himself exposes the Kremlin's propaganda methods on social media. Besedin's total audience on YouTube and Facebook platforms was about 250,000 people, including those from Latvia – and that could be a serious blow to the Kremlin's propaganda. Kasem explained why.
"For example, YouTube or other Western platforms block Russian propagandists. But this does not stop them. They start creating new channels. [...] So when someone, for example, Samul, Mamykin or someone else has their accounts blocked, they come to visit Besedin's program - he has a large audience – and advertise their new channel. They say: here, we have a new channel. No one can stop us," he said.
In February of this year, Kasem published information about a conference organized by the pro-Kremlin organization "Institute for CIS Countries", which was held in an online format. Besedin briefly appeared in its recording, and in an informal conversation said that it was impossible to publish the full recording of the conference because it would threaten those outside the Russian Federation with arrest.
In the fragment, which was later cut out, pro-Kremlin activist from Latvia Aleksandrs Gaponenko also spoke, claiming that ethnocide had allegedly unfolded in Latvia.
He admitted – if Russia decides to conduct a "humanitarian intervention in the Baltic States," it needs to provide ideological preparation.
The content of this speech allowed to charge Haponenko with assisting a foreign state in actions against Latvia, as well as inciting national hatred and discord. The case is now being considered in court. He himself does not admit guilt.
Such criminal trials are widely covered by Moscow propagandists because they fit into the Kremlin's convenient narrative of a Western conspiracy against Russia.
One of the most prominent creators of Kremlin propaganda content is former Riga City Council member Ruslan Pankratov, who fled from Latvia and now heads the Baltic department at the "Institute for CIS Countries."
In September, they held another meeting where they again criticized the alleged oppression of compatriots in Latvia. They also referred to the test of knowledge of the state language, which Russian citizens living in Latvia are obliged to pass. The dissemination of such narratives, including on TikTok and Telegram, is a typical example of Russian information operations.
"Of course, both open and closed social platforms continue to be actively used. This is the reality. Of course, the State Security Service is very careful to ensure that the possibility of financing such actions is minimized, because all such activities, if they can be called that, are related to attracting funding," said Interior Minister Richard Kozlovskis.
The SGB assesses that Russia is making significant efforts to ensure that its propaganda and disinformation reaches and influences Latvian society.
"The Fund for the Support and Protection of Compatriots Living Abroad, curated by the Russian Foreign Ministry, continues to be used to finance Russian influence operations in the Baltic States. It also covers the costs of lawyers' services in lawsuits against pro-Kremlin activists in the Baltic States," the Satversme Advocacy Bureau (SAB) reported.
In turn, according to the SGB assessment, "attempts by the Russian Federation to provide funding to pro-Russian activists living in Latvia using cash, cryptocurrency or new organizations that are not subject to international sanctions and seemingly unrelated to the Russian government cannot be ruled out".
Although propaganda narratives are created by Russian intelligence services, they manage to recruit the executors of the tasks directly in Latvia. According to Prosecutor Martins Jansons of the Prosecutor General's Office, there have been cases of Russian special services giving instructions through a long chain of Telegram channels to print out leaflets with insulting messages about Latvia and the security services and then paste them in various cities in the country. The prosecutor also mentioned that recently there have been tasks to distribute texts in Ukrainian, creating a false impression that Ukrainians living in Latvia are against Russian-speaking residents.
The typical profile of the performers of such tasks is young people, people without regular income, people who are motivated by money rather than ideology.
"In other words, people for these 15 euros – sometimes more, of course, 100, 200, 500 euros - are willing to risk criminal liability," prosecutor Martins Jansons emphasized.
In cases where the evidence of cooperation with Russia is convincing, criminal proceedings are initiated under the article on assistance to a foreign state in activities directed against Latvia. Since 2022, this article has been included in 14 initiated criminal proceedings. The investigation is ongoing in most of them. Two cases have been discontinued, one has been finalized by the prosecutor's decision on punishment, and another case is pending in court.
It can be problematic to gather evidence and prove intent – that a person actually supported the Russian Federation in actions against Latvia.
This week, the SGB asked the prosecutor's office to begin criminal prosecution of former Saeima deputy and current Riga City Council deputy Aleksejs Roslikovs ("Stability!") for intentionally inciting hatred and discord between Latvians and Russians. At the same time, the initial suspicions that the deputy was acting in the interests of Russia no longer appear.
Originally published on: November 17, 2025; 09:10 GMT+2
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