Igor Gusev, a well-known Latvian Russian historian, said on social media that he had left Latvia to escape possible prosecution by the authorities. Igor Gusev is known for his numerous books and videos about the history of Latvia and Riga, as well as fascinating excursions around the Latvian capital. Recently, he has also participated in Book Club meetings.
"In June this year, on the eve of my birthday, I received an unexpected 'gift'. People sympathetic to me, related to the Latvian power structures, informed me literally the following: "You are considered to be one of the flagships of Russian culture in Latvia, and therefore a fundamental decision has been made to organize a special political process, the basis of which will be your views and your statements. It is already possible to "sew" a good, demonstrative political case out of quotations taken from your books. A decision has been made to completely and consistently "cleanse" the Russian cultural element in Latvia. You are quite a well-known figure, and your arrest should be an intimidating demonstration for everyone. In short, you will definitely be arrested. It's only a matter of time..." - said the historian.
According to Gusev, having received confirmation of this from other sources, he decided to leave Latvia and go to Russia. "I fled from hatred, from curses, from the gnashing of teeth of those whose eyes were stabbed by the inconvenient historical Truth. Blessed are those exiled for the Truth... Dievs, svētī Latviju!" - Gusev concluded his note and asked for financial help while he and his family were sheltered by friends.
Gusev's case is far from the first. In September 2022, the (now deceased) Latvian publicist and local historian Vlad Bogov and his family fled to Pskov, because in Latvia he could be killed by the security services. Also, Ruslan Pankratov, a former Riga City Council deputy and Russian human rights activist, recently fled to Russia from Latvia.