Russians in the Baltic states is a broadly defined subgroup of the

Russian diaspora The Russian diaspora is the global community of Ethnicity, ethnic Russians. The Russian-speaking (''Russophone'') diaspora are the people for whom Russian language is the First language, native language, regardless of whether they are ethnic Russ ...

who are

ethnic Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

, or are citizens of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and live in one of the three independent countries —

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

— primarily the consequences of the USSR's forced population transfers during occupation. As of 2023, there were approximately 887,000 ethnic Russians in the three countries (296,000 in Estonia, 445,000 in Latvia and 145,000 in Lithuania), the year of the last census during the 1944–1991 Soviet occupation of the three Baltic countries.

History

Most of the present-day Baltic Russians are migrants from forcible population transfers in the Soviet occupation era (1944-1991) and their descendants, though a relatively small fraction of them can trace their ancestry in the area back to previous centuries. According to official statistics, in 1920,

(most of them residing there from the times of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

) made up 7.82% of the population in independent Latvia, growing to 10.5% in 1935. The share of ethnic Russians in the population of independent Estonia was about 8.2%, of which about half were indigenous Russians living in the areas in and around Pechory and Izborsk which were added to Estonian territory according to the 1920 Estonian-Soviet Peace Treaty of Tartu, but were transferred to the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

by the Soviet authorities in 1945. The remaining Estonian territory was 97.3% ethnically Estonian in 1945. The share of ethnic Russians in independent Lithuania (not including the Vilnius region, then annexed by Poland) was even smaller, about 2.5%. The

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

invaded and occupied and subsequently annexed

and

as Soviet republics in 1940. Germany invaded and occupied the Baltic states in 1941 a week after the first Soviet-conducted mass deportation. Communist party members who had arrived in the area with the initial annexation in 1940 and the puppet regimes established evacuated to other parts of the

; those who fell into German hands were treated harshly or murdered. The Soviet Union reoccupied the Baltic states in 1944–1945 as the war drew to a close. The USSR relied on violence, torture, rape in order to subjugate the local Baltic populations. Immediately after the war, a major influx from other USSR republics primarily of ethnic Russians took place in the Baltic states as part of a ''de facto'' process of

Russification Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...

. These new migrants supported the industrialization of Latvia's economy. Most were factory and construction workers who settled in major urban areas. The influx included the establishment of military bases and associated personnel with the Baltic states now comprising the USSR's ''de facto'' western frontier bordering the Baltic Sea. Many military chose to remain upon retirement, attracted by higher living standards as compared to the rest of the USSR. This led to bitter disputes with Russia regarding the issue of their military pensions after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. After Stalin's death in 1953, the flow of new migrants to the

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was '' de facto'' one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944–1990. After 1946, its terr ...

slowed down, owing to different policies on urbanization, economics and other issues then pursued in the

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Also known as the Latvian SSR, or Latvia) was a Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republic of the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1941, and then from 1944 until 1990. The Soviet occupation of the Bal ...

and the

Estonian SSR The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, (abbreviated Estonian SSR, Soviet Estonia, or simply Estonia ) was an administrative subunit ( union republic) of the former Soviet Union (USSR), covering the occupied and annexed territory of Estonia ...

. However, the flow of immigrants did not stop entirely in Lithuania, and there were further waves of Russian workers who came to work on major construction projects, such as power plants. In Latvia and Estonia, less was done to slow down Russian immigration. By the 1980s Russians made up about third of the population in Estonia, while in Latvia, ethnic

Latvians Latvians () are a Baltic ethnic group and nation native to Latvia and the immediate geographical region, the Baltics. They are occasionally also referred to as Letts, especially in older bibliography. Latvians share a common Latvian language ...

made up about half of the population. In contrast, in 1989 only 9.4% of Lithuania's population were Russians. Scholars in international law have noted that "in accordance with Article 49 of the

Fourth Geneva Convention The Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (), more commonly referred to as the Fourth Geneva Convention and abbreviated as GCIV, is one of the four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It was adopted in August 1 ...

, the settlement of Russians in the Baltic States during the period was illegal under international law" ("The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies"). The convention was adopted in 1949, including by the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union falsely claimed that the Baltic States joined the USSR voluntarily, and that it did not consider the convention applicable to the Baltic states — rhetoric that Putin's Russia continues to repeat today. Continuing the position of their legations or governments in exile, and based on international law and treaties in effect at the time of initial Soviet occupation, the Baltic states view the Soviet presence in the Baltic states as an illegal occupation for its full duration. This continuity of the Baltic states with their first period of independence has been used to re-adopt pre-World War II laws, constitutions, and treaties and to formulate new policies, including in the areas of citizenship and language. Some of the Baltic Russians, mainly those who had come to live in the region not long before the three countries regained independence in 1991, remigrated to Russia and other ex-Soviet countries in the early 1990s. Lithuania, which had been influenced by immigration the least, granted citizenship automatically. In Latvia and Estonia, those who had no family ties to Latvia prior to World War II did not receive automatic citizenship. Those that failed to request Russian citizenship during the time window it was offered were granted permanent residency "''non-citizen''" status. (see ''Citizenship'' section).

Current situation

Lithuanian Russians live mainly in cities. In the Lithuanian capital

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, they make up less than 10% of the population, in Lithuania's third largest city

Klaipėda Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...

less than 20%. Other Lithuanian cities, including the second-largest city

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

, have lower percentages of Russians, while in most small towns and villages there are very few Russians (with the exception of Visaginas). In all, 5% of Lithuania's population are ethnic Russians. Russians make up around one third of the population of Latvia's capital,

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. In the second largest city

Daugavpils Daugavpils (see also other names) is a state city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city derives its name. The parts of the city to the north of the river belong to the historical Latvian region ...

, where already before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Russians were the second biggest ethnic group after Jews, Russians now make up the majority. Today about 25% of Latvia's population are ethnic Russians. In

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

are concentrated in urban areas, particularly in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

and the north-eastern county of Ida-Virumaa. As of 2011, 38.5% of Tallinn's population were ethnic Russians and an even higher number – 46.7% spoke Russian as their

mother tongue A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongue'' refers ...

. In 2011, large proportions of ethnic Russians were found in

Narva Narva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in the Ida-Viru County, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia border, E ...

(82%), Sillamäe (about 82%) and

Kohtla-Järve Kohtla-Järve () is a city and Municipalities of Estonia, municipality in northeastern Estonia, founded in 1924 and incorporated as a town in 1946. The city is highly industrial, and is both a processor of oil shales and is a large producer of ...

(70%). In the second largest city of Estonia –

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

– ethnic Russians constitute about 16% of the population. In rural areas the proportion of ethnic Russians is very low (13 of Estonia's 15 counties are over 80% ethnic Estonian). Overall, ethnic Russians make up 24% of Estonia's population (the proportion of

Russophone This article details the geographical distribution of Russian-speakers. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the status of the Russian language often became a matter of controversy. Some Post-Soviet states adopted policies of Derus ...

s is, however, somewhat higher, because Russian is the mother tongue of many ethnic

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

Belarusians Belarusians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. They natively speak Belarusian language, Belarusian, an East Slavic language. More than 9 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 7.99&n ...

and Jews who live in the country). Demand for industrial workers drew Russians to settle in larger cities. In all three countries, the rural settlements are inhabited almost entirely by the main national ethnic groups, except some areas in eastern Estonia and Latvia with a longer history of Russian and mixed villages. The Lithuanian city of Visaginas was built for workers at the

Ignalina nuclear power plant The Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant () is a Nuclear decommissioning, decommissioned two-unit RBMK-1500 nuclear power plant, nuclear power station in Visaginas Municipality, Lithuania. It was named after the nearby city of Ignalina. Due to the plant' ...

and therefore has a Russian majority. A 2014 study found that many Russians identified with the place where they lived. After the accession of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

on 1 May 2004, many Baltic Russians moved to other EU countries. In particular, tens of thousands of Baltic Russians (especially those with EU citizenship) moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, who were the first 'old' EU countries to open up their labour markets to the new members of the EU. Thousands of Russians from Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius, holding EU passports, now live in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and other cities in the UK and Ireland. They make up a substantial part of the Russian-speaking community in London. No reliable statistics on their exact numbers exist, as in the UK they are counted as nationals of the Baltic countries, and not as Russians.

Citizenship

After regaining independence in 1991, Latvia and Estonia restored the pre-1940 citizenship laws on the basis of the legal continuity of their statehood throughout 1940 – 1991, automatically recognising citizenship according to the principle of ''

jus sanguinis ( or , ), meaning 'right of blood', is a principle of nationality law by which nationality is determined or acquired by the nationality of one or both parents. Children at birth may be nationals of a particular state if either or both of thei ...

'' for the persons who held citizenship before 16 June 1940 and their descendants. Most of those who had settled on the territory of these

republics A republic, based on the Latin phrase '' res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a state in which political power rests with the public (people), typically through their representatives—in contrast to a monarchy. Although ...

after their incorporation by the USSR of these states by the USSR in 1940 and their descendants received the right to obtain citizenship through

naturalisation Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

procedure, but were not granted citizenship automatically. This policy affected not only ethnic Russians, but also the descendants of those ethnic Estonians and Latvians who emigrated from these countries before independence was proclaimed in 1918. Dual citizenship is also not allowed, except for those who acquired citizenship by birth. Knowledge of the respective official language and in some cases the Constitution and/or history and an oath of loyalty to established constitutional order was set as a condition for obtaining citizenship through naturalisation. However, the purported difficulty of the initial language tests became a point of international contention, as the government of Russia, the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

, and several human rights organizations claiming that they made it impossible for many older Russians who grew up in the Baltic region to gain citizenship. As a result, the tests were altered, but a large percentage of Russians in Latvia and Estonia still have non-citizen or alien status. Those who have not applied for citizenship feel they are regarded with suspicion, under the perception that they are deliberately avoiding naturalisation. For many, an important reason not to apply for citizenship is the fact that Russia gives non-citizens preferential treatment: they are free to work or visit relatives in Russia. The citizens of the Baltic states must apply for visas. The language issue is still contentious, particularly in Latvia, where there were protests in 2003 and 2004 organized by the Headquarters for the Protection of Russian Schools against the government's plans to require at least 60% of lessons in state-funded Russian-language high schools to be taught in Latvian. In contrast, Lithuania granted citizenship to all its residents at the time of independence redeclaration day willing to have it, without requiring them to learn Lithuanian. Probably the main reason that Lithuania took a less restrictive approach than Latvia and Estonia is that whereas in Latvia ethnic Latvians comprised only 52% of the total population, and in Estonia ethnic Estonians comprised barely more than 61%, in Lithuania ethnic Lithuanians were almost 80% of the population. Therefore, as a matter of voting in national elections or referendums, the opinions of ethnic Lithuanians would likely carry the day if there were a difference in opinion between Lithuanians and the larger minority groups (Russians and

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

), but this was less certain in the other two Baltic countries, especially in Latvia. Some representatives of the ethnic Russian communities in Latvia and Estonia have claimed discrimination by the authorities, these calls frequently being supported by Russia. On the other hand, Latvia and Estonia deny discrimination charges and often accuse Russia of using the issue for political purposes. In recent years, as the Russian political leaders have begun to speak about the "former Soviet space" as their

sphere of influence In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence (SOI) is a spatial region or concept division over which a state or organization has a level of cultural, economic, military, or political exclusivity. While there may be a formal a ...

, such claims are a source of annoyance, if not alarm, in the Baltic countries. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have since 2004 become members of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

and the

(EU) to provide a counterbalance to Russia's claims to speak for the interests of ethnic Russian residents of these countries. Furthermore, to satisfy a precondition for their admission to the EU, both Estonia and Latvia slightly adjusted their citizenship policies in response to EU monitoring and requests.

Political activity

There are a number of political parties and politicians in the Baltic states who claim to represent the Russian-speaking minority. These parties support

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

rights, demand citizenship for all long-term residents of Latvia and Estonia. These forces are particularly strong in

represented by the Latvian Russian Union which has one seat in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

held by Tatjana Ždanoka and the more moderate Harmony party which is currently the largest faction in the

Saeima The Saeima () is the parliament of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the p ...

with 24 out of 100 deputies, the party of the former Mayor of Riga Nils Ušakovs and with one representative in the

currently Andrejs Mamikins. In Estonia the Estonian Centre Party is overwhelmingly the most favored party among Estonian Russians. This is in part because of its co-operation agreement with

United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...

, its advocacy of friendlier ties with the Russian government compared to other mainstream Estonian parties and the prevalence of Russians and Russophones among the party's municipal councilors and parliamentarians. In 2011 pro-Russian groups in

collected sufficient signatures to initiate the process of amending the Constitution to give Russian the status of an

official language An official language is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, "the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country's government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc." Depending on the decree, establishmen ...

. On 18 February 2012, constitutional referendum on whether to adopt Russian as a second official language was held. According to the Central Election Commission, 74.8% voted against, 24.9% voted for and the voter turnout was 71.1%. The non-citizen community (290,660 or 14.1% of Latvia's entire population) was non-entitled to vote.

Notable Baltic Russians

Famous modern Baltic Russians include: * Lidiia Alekseeva (1909–1989), Russian-Latvian poet and writer of short stories *

Mikhail Baryshnikov Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov ( rus, Михаил Николаевич Барышников, p=mʲɪxɐˈil bɐ'rɨʂnʲɪkəf; ; born January 27, 1948) is a Latvian and American dancer, choreographer, and actor. He was the preeminent male ...

, Russian-American dancer and actor, born in

* Ludmilla Chiriaeff, ballet dancer, choreographer, and director, born in Riga *

Mikhail Eisenstein Mikhail Osipovich Eisenstein (, ; – 2 July 1920) was a civil engineer and architect working in Riga, the present-day capital of Latvia, when the city was part of the Russian Empire. He was active as an architect in the city at a time of great ...

, architect designer of many buildings in Riga, father of

Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein; (11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, screenwriter, film editor and film theorist. Considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, he was a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage. He is no ...

, born in Riga *

, director who made some famous Russian films (including '' The Battleship Potemkin''), born in Riga * Alexandr Kaleri, Russian

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

born in

Jūrmala Jūrmala (; "seaside") is a state city in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, about west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and is sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a stretch of white-sand beach and is the ...

* Valeri Karpin,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, born in

Alexander Kovalevsky Alexander Onufrievich Kovalevsky (; 7 November 1840 – 1901) was a Russian embryologist, who studied medicine at the University of Heidelberg and became professor at the University of St Petersburg. He was the brother of the paleontologist V ...

embryologist Embryology (from Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, ''-logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes (sex cells), fertilization, and development of embryos and ...

born near

* Alexei Kudrin, former Russian finance minister born in Dobele * Evgenii Miller, Russian general born in

* Marie N (Marija Naumova), winner of the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest for

* Nikolai Novosjolov, an Estonian fencer * Nikita Ivanovich Panin, Russian 18th century statesman from

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth-largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second-largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of ...

* Vladimirs Petrovs, chess player, born in Riga * Roman Romanov, businessman and former Chairman of Heart of Midlothian F.C. * Vladimir Romanov, businessman and former owner of Heart of Midlothian F.C. football club, citizen of Lithuania * Uljana Semjonova, basketball player from

* Alexei Shirov, chess grandmaster born in Riga * Konstantin Sokolsky, singer from Riga *

Anatoly Solovyev Anatoly Yakovlevich Solovyev (; ; alternate spelling "Solovyov"; born 16 January 1948) is a retired Latvian and Soviet Union, Soviet cosmonaut and pilot. Solovyev holds the List of cumulative spacewalk records, world record on the number of extra- ...

, pilot and

, born in Riga * Aleksandrs Starkovs,

Latvia national football team The Latvia national football team () represents Latvia in men's international Association football, football, and is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Latvia. They have never qualified for the FIF ...

coach of 2001–2004 * Yury Tynyanov, writer, literary critic, translator, scholar and scriptwriter born in

Rēzekne Rēzekne (, ''Rēzne'' or ''Rēzekne'' , ) is a state city in the Rēzekne River valley in the Latgale region of eastern Latvia. It is called ''The Heart of Latgale'' (Latvian ''Latgales sirds'', Latgalian ''Latgolys sirds''). Built on seven ...

* Nils Ušakovs, former mayor of Riga * Viktor Uspaskich, former leader of the Lithuanian Labour Party, former Lithuanian minister of the economy, former member of the Lithuanian parliament, the

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (), or simply the Seimas ( ; ), is the unicameralism, unicameral legislative body of the Lithuania, Republic of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of Government of Lithuania, govern ...

, and the current member of the

elected from Lithuania * Mikhail Nikolayevich Zadornov, Latvian-born Russian comedian * Tatjana Ždanoka, former member of the

elected from Latvia * Sergejs Žoltoks, professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player from Riga * Artjoms Rudņevs, football player from Daugavpils * Teodors Bļugers, ice hockey player from Riga

References and notes

Bibliography

* * Cheskin, Ammon. "Identity and integration of Russian speakers in the Baltic States: A framework for analysis." ''Ethnopolitics'' 14.1 (2015): 72–93
online
* Cheskin, Ammon, and Angela Kachuyevski. "The Russian-speaking populations in the post-Soviet space: language, politics and identity." ''Europe-Asia Studies'' 71.1 (2019): 1-23
online
* Cheskin, Ammon. ''Russian-Speakers in Post-Soviet Latvia: Discursive Identity Strategies'' (Edinburgh University Press, 2016). * Kallas, Kristina. "Claiming the diaspora: Russia's compatriot policy and its reception by Estonian-Russian population." ''Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe'' (JEMIE) 15 (2016): 1+
online
* Kirch, Aksel, Marika Kirch, and Tarmo Tuisk. "Russians in the Baltic States: To be or not to be?." ''Journal of Baltic Studies'' 24.2 (1993): 173–188
in JSTOR
* Laitin, David D. "Three models of integration and the Estonian/Russian reality." ''Journal of Baltic Studies'' 34.2 (2003): 197–222. * Lane, Thomas. ''Lithuania: stepping westward'' (Routledge, 2014). * Naylor, Aliide. ' The Shadow in the East: Vladimir Putin and the New Baltic Front' (I.B. Tauris, 2020) * Schulze, Jennie L. ''Strategic frames: Europe, Russia, and minority inclusion in Estonia and Latvia'' (U of Pittsburgh Press, 2018). * Shafir, Gershon. ''Immigrants and nationalists: Ethnic conflict and accommodation in Catalonia, the Basque Country, Latvia, and Estonia'' (SUNY Press, 1995). *
Russian Minorities in the Baltic States
"Ethnicity" No. 3/2010

External links

How Russian Disinformation Targets the Former Soviet Bloc Around WWII Anniversaries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russians Baltic states Russians in Estonia Russians in Latvia Ethnic groups in Lithuania Estonia–Russia relations Russian diaspora in Europe