Key facts
- Leonid Ragozin accused Latvia's decision on him as political persecution by far-right politicians.
- Ragozin has been accused of equating Russia, the aggressor, with Ukraine, the victim.
- Yulia Latynina believes Ukraine represents a strategic threat to Russia and that Russia had a right to invade.
- Latynina's current foreign policy views are similar to Russian imperialists Alexander Dugin and Eduard Limonov.
Latvia's decision last week to declare Russian-born journalist and blogger Leonid Ragozin persona non grata has drawn attention to a trend of Russians living in Europe who are accused of echoing Kremlin narratives and justifying Moscow's war against Ukraine. Ragozin, who has worked for numerous English-language and Russian-language publications, moved to Latvia in 2013 and visited Russia multiple times between 2014 and 2022, including during the invasion. He confirmed on October 14, 2026, that Latvia had referred to him and he was notified of his expulsion, which he called "political persecution" and "revenge by far-right politicians." Ragozin has been accused of downplaying Russian atrocities and blaming the West for the conflict, though he denies explicitly supporting the war and states he condemns Russian aggression. Konstantin Eggert, former head of the BBC's Moscow bureau, stated that Ragozin "is de facto equating the aggressor (Russia) with the victim of aggression (Ukraine), denying or downplaying atrocities committed by the Russian forces." InformNapalm, a Ukrainian intelligence outfit, said Ragozin's arguments "effectively reinforce the Kremlin's preferred narrative." Yulia Latynina, once a prominent anti-Kremlin liberal leader, has dramatically shifted her views since 2024, now fully supporting Russia's war and arguing that Ukraine represents a "strategic threat" to Russia. She attributes her views to US foreign-policy realists rather than Russian imperialists.