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Russians in the Baltic states describes self-identifying
ethnic Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
and other primary
Russian-speaking communities in
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
,
Latvia, and
Lithuania, collectively. As of 2017, there were ca 1 million ethnic Russians in the three Baltic countries, having declined from ca 1.7 million in 1989, the year of the
last census during the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
era.
History
Most of the present-day Baltic Russians are migrants from the Soviet 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,
ethnic Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
(most of them residing there from the times of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
) 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
Pechory (russian: Печо́ры; Estonian and Seto: ') is a town and the administrative centre of Pechorsky District in the Pskov Oblast, Russia. Its population in the 2010 Census was 11,195, having fallen from 13,056 recorded in ...
and
Izborsk
Izborsk (russian: Избо́рск; et, Irboska; vro, Irbosk, Irbuska, label=Seto) is a rural locality (village) in Pechorsky District of Pskov Oblast, Russia. It contains one of the most ancient and impressive fortresses of Western Russia. ...
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 ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
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%.
Following the terms of the 1939
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that enabled those powers to partition Poland between them. The pact was signed in Moscow on 23 August 1939 by German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ri ...
, the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
invaded and occupied and subsequently annexed
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
,
Latvia and
Lithuania 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
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
; 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.
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. 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; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...
slowed down, owing to different policies on urbanization, economics and other issues then pursued in the
Latvian SSR and the
Estonian SSR.
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 ( lv, latvieši) 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 La ...
made up only 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 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. However, as the Soviet Union maintained the Baltic States joined the USSR voluntarily, it did not consider the convention applicable to the Baltic states.
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 ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
, they make up less than 10% of the population, in Lithuania's third largest city
Klaipėda
Klaipėda (; ; german: Memel; pl, Kłajpeda; russian: Клайпеда; sgs, Klaipieda) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. The capital of the eponymous county, it is the third largest city and the only major seaport in Lithuania ...
less than 20%. Other Lithuanian cities, including the second-largest city
Kaunas, have lower percentages of Russians, while in most small towns and villages there are very few Russians (with the exception of
Visaginas
Visaginas () is the centre of Lithuania's youngest municipality, located on the north-eastern edge of the country. It was built as a town for workers engaged in the construction of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. Visaginas is the only town in ...
). In all, 5% of Lithuania's population are ethnic Russians.
Russians make up around one third of the population of Latvia's capital,
Riga. In the second largest city
Daugavpils, where already before
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
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
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
,
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
are concentrated in urban areas, particularly in
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...
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. In 2011, large proportions of ethnic Russians were found in
Narva
Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru county, at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia international border. With 54 ...
(82%),
Sillamäe
Sillamäe (Estonian for 'Bridge Hill'; also known by the Germanised names of ''Sillamäggi'' or ''Sillamägi'') is a town in Ida-Viru County in the northern part of Estonia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland. It has a population of ...
(about 82%) and
Kohtla-Järve
Kohtla-Järve is a city and 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 various petrochemical products ...
(70%). In the second largest city of Estonia –
Tartu – 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 derussi ...
s is, however, somewhat higher, because Russian is the mother tongue of many ethnic
Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...
,
Belarusians 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
Visaginas () is the centre of Lithuania's youngest municipality, located on the north-eastern edge of the country. It was built as a town for workers engaged in the construction of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. Visaginas is the only town in ...
was built for workers at the
Ignalina nuclear power plant
The Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant ( lt, Ignalinos atominė elektrinė, IAE) is a decommissioned two-unit RBMK-1500 nuclear power station in Visaginas Municipality, Lithuania. It was named after the nearby city of Ignalina. Due to the plant's sim ...
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 political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
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 and to Ireland, 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,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
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.
In 2012,
Dimitri Medvedev issued a repatriation program designed to resettle ethnic Russians from abroad. So far 10,000 families have settled in the Russian Federation, mostly to
Pskov Oblast.
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'' 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 () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...
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-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...
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, 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
In law, an alien is any person (including an organization) who is not a citizen or a national of a specific country, although definitions and terminology differ to some degree depending upon the continent or region. More generally, however, ...
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
Visa most commonly refers to:
*Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company
** Visa Debit card issued by the above company
** Visa Electron, a debit card
** Visa Plus, an interbank network
*Travel visa, a document that allows ...
.
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 Headquarters for the Protection of Russian Schools (russian: Штаб защиты русских школ; lv, Krievu skolu aizstāvības štābs) is a movement in Latvia for the preservation of public secondary education in Russian. Its leaders ...
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 a small majority of the total population, and in Estonia ethnic Estonians comprised about 70 percent, in Lithuania ethnic Lithuanians were about 80 percent 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
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...
), 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, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
and the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
(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. Claims of discrimination in basic rights by Russians and other minorities in the region may have less effect now than they did during the years when the Baltic countries' membership applications were still pending with the EU.
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 rights, demand citizenship for all long-term residents of Latvia and Estonia. These forces are particularly strong in
Latvia represented by the
Latvian Russian Union
The Latvian Russian Union (LRU, lv, Latvijas Krievu savienība, russian: Русский союз Латвии, Russkiy soyuz Latvii) (LKS) is a political party in Latvia supported mainly by ethnic Russians and other Russian-speaking minorities. ...
which has one seat in the
European parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the 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 adopts ...
held by
Tatjana Ždanoka and the more moderate
Harmony party which is currently the largest faction in the
Saeima with 24 out of 100 deputies, the party of the former
Mayor of Riga Nils Ušakovs
Nils Ušakovs (russian: Нил Валерьевич Ушаков, ''Nil Valeryevich Ushakov'') (born 8 June 1976) is a Latvian Russian politician, former mayor of Riga and former journalist. He has been the board chairman of the left-wing part ...
and with one representative in the
European parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the 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 adopts ...
currently
Andrejs Mamikins. In Estonia the
Estonian Centre Party
The Estonian Centre Party ( et, Eesti Keskerakond, EK) is a populist political party in Estonia. It was founded in 1991 as a direct successor of the Popular Front of Estonia, and it is currently led by Jüri Ratas.
The party was founded on 12 O ...
is overwhelmingly the most favored party among Estonian Russians. This is in part because of its co-operation agreement with
United Russia
United Russia ( rus, Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya, (j)ɪˈdʲinəjə rɐˈsʲijə) is a Russian conservative political party. As the largest party in Russia, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the State Duma , havin ...
, its advocacy of friendlier ties with the Russian government compared to other mainstream Estonian parties and the prevalence Russians and Russophones among the party's municipal councilors and parliamentarians.
In 2011 pro-Russian groups in
Latvia collected sufficient signatures to initiate the process of amending the Constitution to give Russian the status of an
official language
An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...
. On 18 February 2012,
constitutional referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
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:
*
Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian-American dancer and actor, born in
Riga
*
Ludmilla Chiriaeff, ballet dancer, choreographer, and director, born in Riga
*
Mikhail Eisenstein
Mikhail Osipovich Eisenstein (russian: Михаил Осипович Эйзенштейн, translit=Michail Osipovič Ejzenštein, lv, Mihails Eizenšteins; – 2 July 1920) was a civil engineer and architect working in Riga, the present-day cap ...
, architect designer of many buildings in Riga, father of
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ɪjzʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, 2=Sergey Mikhaylovich Eyzenshteyn; 11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, scree ...
, born in Riga
*
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ɪjzʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, 2=Sergey Mikhaylovich Eyzenshteyn; 11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, scree ...
, director who made some famous Russian films (including ''
The Battleship Potemkin
'' Battleship Potemkin'' (russian: Бронено́сец «Потёмкин», ''Bronenosets Potyomkin''), sometimes rendered as ''Battleship Potyomkin'', is a 1925 Soviet silent
drama film produced by Mosfilm. Directed and co-written by S ...
''), 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 human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
born in
Jūrmala
Jūrmala (; "seaside") is a state city in Latvia, about west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a stretch of white-sand beach, and a population of 49,325 in 2019 ...
*
Valeri Karpin
Valery Georgiyevich Karpin (russian: Валерий Георгиевич Карпин; born 2 February 1969) is a football manager and former player who manages FC Rostov and the Russian national team. He is a former midfielder, primarily a r ...
,
football midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
, born in
Narva
Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru county, at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia international border. With 54 ...
*
Alexander Kovalevsky
Alexander Onufrievich Kovalevsky (russian: Алекса́ндр Ону́фриевич Ковале́вский, 7 November 1840 in Vārkava parish, Vorkovo, Dvinsky Uyezd, Vitebsk Governorate, Russian Empire – 1901, St. Petersburg, Russian Empi ...
,
embryologist born near
Daugavpils
*
Alexei Kudrin
Alexei Leonidovich Kudrin ( rus, Алексе́й Леони́дович Ку́дрин, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej lʲɪɐˈnʲidəvʲɪtɕ ˈkudrʲɪn; born 12 October 1960) is a Russian liberal politician and economist. Previously he served as the C ...
, former Russian finance minister born in
Dobele
Dobele (; german: Doblen) is a town in the cultural region Zemgale in Latvia, and is located near the center of Latvia on the banks of the river Bērze. It received town rights in 1917 whilst being a part of the German occupied Courland Governor ...
*
Evgenii Miller, Russian general born in
Daugavpils
*
Marie N
Marija Naumova-Bullīta (born and professionally knows as Marija Naumova 23 June 1973) is a Latvian singer of Russian descent. Under the stage name Marie N, she sings a broad range of music ranging from pop to musical theatre and jazz, and has ...
(Marija Naumova), winner of the
2002 Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest 2002 was the 47th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tallinn, Estonia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Everybody" by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL. Organised by the Eur ...
for
Latvia
*
Nikolai Novosjolov
Nikolai Novosjolov (born 9 June 1980) is an Estonian right-handed épée fencer, two-time individual world champion, and four-time Olympian.
Novosjolov competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the 2012 Lon ...
, an Estonian
fencer
*
Nikita Ivanovich Panin
Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin (russian: Ники́та Ива́нович Па́нин) () was an influential Russian statesman and political mentor to Catherine II of Russia, Catherine the Great for the first 18 years of her reign (1762-1780). In ...
, 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 ...
*
Vladimirs Petrovs, chess player, born in Riga
*
Roman Romanov, businessman and former Chairman of
Heart of Midlothian F.C.
Heart of Midlothian Football Club, commonly known as Hearts, is a professional football club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Professional Football League. Hearts, the oldest and most successful football club in the S ...
*
Vladimir Romanov
Vladimir Nikolayevich Romanov ( rus, Владимир Николаевич Романов, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr nʲɪkɐˈlaɪvʲɪtɕ rɐˈmanəf, lt, Vladimiras Romanovas; born 15 June 1947) , businessman and former owner of Heart of Midlothian F.C. football club, citizen of Lithuania
*
Uljana Semjonova
Uļjana Larionovna Semjonova (russian: Ульяна Ларионовна Семёнова, Ul'yana Larionovna Semyonova; born 9 March 1952) is a retired Latvian basketball player who competed for the Soviet Union.
Standing at least Semjonova w ...
, basketball player from
Daugavpils
*
Alexei Shirov
Alexei Shirov (, lv, Aleksejs Širovs; born 4 July 1972) is a Latvian and Spanish chess player. Shirov was ranked number two in the world in 1994.
He won a match against Vladimir Kramnik in 1998 to qualify to play as challenger for the classic ...
,
chess grandmaster born in Riga
*
Konstantin Sokolsky, singer from Riga
*
Anatoly Solovyev, pilot and
cosmonaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
, born in Riga
*
Aleksandrs Starkovs
Aleksandrs Starkovs (born 26 July 1955) is a Latvian football coach and a former player. Most recently he coached FK Liepāja.
Starkovs has managed clubs such as Spartak Moscow in Russia, FK Baku in Azerbaijan and Skonto FC in Latvia. He had t ...
,
Latvia national football team
The Latvia national football team ( lv, Latvijas futbola izlase) represents Latvia in international 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
Yury Nikolaevich Tynyanov ( rus, Ю́рий Никола́евич Тыня́нов, p=ˈjʉrʲɪj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ tɨˈnʲænəf; October 18, 1894 – December 20, 1943) was a Soviet writer, literary critic, translator, scholar and scr ...
, writer, literary critic, translator, scholar and scriptwriter born in
Rēzekne
Rēzekne (, ; German: ''Rositten'') is a state city in the Rēzekne River valley in Latgale region of eastern Latvia. It is called ''The Heart of Latgale'' (Latvian ''Latgales sirds'', Latgalian ''Latgolys sirds''). Built on seven hills, Rēzekn ...
*
Nils Ušakovs
Nils Ušakovs (russian: Нил Валерьевич Ушаков, ''Nil Valeryevich Ushakov'') (born 8 June 1976) is a Latvian Russian politician, former mayor of Riga and former journalist. He has been the board chairman of the left-wing part ...
, former mayor of Riga
*
Viktor Uspaskich
Viktor Uspaskich (russian: Виктор Викторович Успасских, lt, Viktoras Uspaskichas; born 24 July 1959) is a Russian-born Lithuanian entrepreneur and politician.
Early life
He was born in the village of Urdoma, Arkhangel ...
, 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 ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendme ...
, and the current member of the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the 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 adopts ...
elected from Lithuania
*
Mikhail Nikolayevich Zadornov
Mikhail Nikolayevich Zadornov (russian: Михаи́л Никола́евич Задо́рнов, ''Mihaíl Nikolájevič Zadórnov''; July 21, 1948 in Jūrmala, Latvian SSR, USSR – November 10, 2017 in Moscow, Russia) was a Soviet and Russi ...
, Latvian-born Russian comedian
*
Tatjana Ždanoka, former member of the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the 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 adopts ...
elected from Latvia
*
Sergejs Žoltoks, professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...
player from Riga
See also
*
History of Russians in Estonia
*
History of Russians in Latvia
*
History of Russians in Lithuania
Russians in Lithuania numbered 140,000 people, according to the Lithuanian estimates of 2015, or 4.8% of the total population of Lithuania.
History
Imperial era
First early settlements of Ruthenians in Lithuania proper date back to late med ...
*
Ethnic Russians in post-Soviet states
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union (USSR) in December 1991, about 25 million ethnic Russians in post-Soviet states found themselves living outside of Russia.
All former Soviet citizens had a time window within which they could transfer the ...
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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russians
Baltic states
Russians in Estonia
Russians in Latvia
Ethnic groups in Lithuania
Estonia–Russia relations
Russian diaspora in Europe