The Baltic Russophone identity in flux: Political behavior, boundary making, and media practices after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine

Latvia and Estonia are countries with the largest share of Russian-speaking minorities in the European Union. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24 2022 has created unprecedented existential challenges for these linguistic communities. For scholars, this has illuminated many unknowns regarding Russian-speakers identity. Cultural identification with Russia has never been a clear-cut choice to Baltic Russophones, but now it also becomes a morally constrained choice. Moreover, the upheaval caused by the war has enabled symbolic violence against the Russophone community. The aim of the research project is to study the identity dynamics of Latvian and Estonian Russophones in the light of Russia’s invasion. “Identity dynamics” is understood as the process in which permanent social positions and collective self-image are constructed and situated. In particular, the project focuses on boundary making, political behaviour, and media practices. The project's research strategy is built on a complex set of methods that include focus groups, surveys, media diaries and online ethnography. The dynamic research design is set to explore the transformation of Russian-speakers’ identity over time, shedding light on socio-political developments within and outside Latvia and Estonia.

Outcomes to be achieved

• Four scholarly papers submitted to journals indexed by WoS /SCOPUS;
• at least five papers presented at international scientific conferences;
• two datasets created;
• policy recommendations developed;
• one grant proposal submitted for a national or international research grant programme.

Conferences

CBSE 2025 Converging Paths: The Baltic Between East and West 24.–26.04.2025.
Roundtable: Translating uncertainty: What lies behind the ambiguous attitude of Latvia’s and Estonia’s Russophones towards Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
Chair: Mārtiņš Kaprāns (University of Latvia). Participants: Jānis Juzefovičs (Rīga Stradiņš University, Latvia), Oksana Žabko (University of Latvia), Inta Mieriņa (University of Latvia), Anastasija Tetarenko-Supe (University of Latvia)

Media coverage

TV3 News, “Tas notiek tur ārā” – Latvijas krievvalodīgie atsvešinās no kara Ukrainā, 18 June 2025

REplay.lv, LSM, Krieviski runājošie kļūst politiski un sabiedriski atsvešinātāki, 18 June 2025