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Latvia's Russian Minority
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Latvia's Russian Minority

28 MIN · EN · STATUS: [ STREAMING ]
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About a quarter of Latvia's population traces its roots to Russia, a legacy of decades of Soviet annexation. This DW film goes into Latvian towns and cities to ask that community how it sees itself now, three decades after independence and since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Personal interviews carry the film: Russian-speaking Latvians talk about language laws, school reform, and the suspicion that has followed them since the war began, while others describe choosing Latvian citizenship and loyalty over ties to Moscow. The documentary traces the historical roots of the divide, from Soviet-era deportations and resettlement policies to the current debates over dismantling Soviet monuments and restricting Russian-language broadcasting. It doesn't flatten the community into one position; some interviewees defend Russian culture and language as their own heritage rather than a political statement, others describe feeling like second-class citizens, and still others describe outright rejecting Russia's actions in Ukraine. The result is a portrait of a country and a minority both working out where loyalty ends and identity begins.