A Latvian activist has been sentenced to prison for flying the Russian flag, according to a false narrative promoted by pro-Kremlin propaganda.
NEWS: The Riga municipal court issued a ruling in the case of activist Jelena Kreile who has Russian and Soviet symbols at her home. The woman will serve 3 years in prison. Over March 7 – June 15, 2023, the activist raised several Russian flags on the territory of her property. One of the flags bore the message “May God save Latvia” and “Putin is my friend”.
In addition to the flags, the woman made an ID of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia with a coat of arms (white, blue and red stripes, as represented on the Russian flag). The indictment also includes a photo of four women, one of whom wears a red dress with images of the symbols of the USSR – the hammer and sickle.
The court considered that Jelena Kreile thus expressed her support for Russia and the special operation. The woman did not admit her guilt […] Local journalists claim the woman does not actually speak Latvian and does not support Russia or the actions of Russian leadership.
NARRATIVE: EU citizens are jailed for flying the Russian flag
GRAIN OF TRUTH: Activist Jelena Kreile was sentenced to 3 years in prison on July 11, 2024 after she tried to justify Russia's aggression against Ukraine, but also made a series of scandalous public appearances wearing a Soviet military uniform with symbols of “special military operation” (the letter “Z”, etc.).
BACKGROUND: The Baltic States has a history of hostile relations with the Russian Federation and the Soviet Union. They were occupied by the Russian Empire and invaded by the USSR after a brief period of independence. When Baltic States regained their independence, Moscow tried to oppose the move. Afterwards, Russia regularly tried to intimidate them, and even launched cyber-attacks against Estonia. Moreover, Russia continues to pursue acts of provocation in the Baltic Sea area, where aerial harassment and threats are frequent. For all these reasons, the Baltic States felt directly threatened by Russia's increasing aggression with its attack on Ukraine in 2014 and have consistently advocated for the strengthening of NATO's presence in the region. After the large-scale invasion of 2022, the Baltic States have unequivocally shown their support for Ukraine, both through direct assistance (the delivery of humanitarian and military equipment) and through its actions at EU and NATO levels.
In the spring of 2022, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania called on the European Union to cooperate with international partners for the establishment of a special court charged with investigating Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. The Baltic States condemned the communist regime, considering it criminal and anti-human. The legislation of these former Soviet states is quite strict with respect to any initiatives to rehabilitate the totalitarian regimes of the past, but also regarding the activity of pro-Kremlin propaganda media.
PURPOSE: To demonize the EU and the West in the eyes of the Russian public, to justify the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: The Russian media is leaving out a number of important aspects in this case. Jelena Kreile was not sentenced to three years in prison for raising flags, but for justifying the war in Ukraine, war crimes, the Soviet genocide of the Latvian people and other actions of Moscow. Kreile gave interviews to Moscow television stations, reporting on Russophobia in the Baltic States and Vladimir Putin's historic mission.
In 2023, Kreile told an interview for the Russian media that the EU is Russophobic. She mentioned she is being followed by the authorities for the simple fact that she speaks Russian. In her interventions on Russian TV stations, she tried to rehabilitate the Soviet regime and justify the communist crimes committed in Latvia, including the deportations to Siberia.
Jelena Kreile is mentioned on the page of the Foundation for the Protection of Russian Nationals Abroad, being described as a personality who opposes fascism in Europe. On February 26, 2022, Elena Kreile took part in a rally organized near the Russian Embassy in Riga by opponents of the war in Ukraine with a banner that read “Russia, I stand with you”. Her actions were labeled by the authorities as attempts to justify the war in the context Moscow's repeated threats against Latvia.
Therefore, EU citizen Elena Kreile was not sentenced to three years in prison for raising a flag, but for repeatedly violating Latvian and European legislation in the field of direct and indirect threats to national security. The false narrative is part of Russian propaganda efforts to demonize the West.
According to Russia's false narratives, previously debunked by Veridica, the ban on Russian cars is evidence of the EU’s Nazism. The Russian media also wrote that the West is Russophobic and racist, destroying world sports. In the context of the war in Ukraine, the EU was accused of provoking the conflict and supporting certain political leaders in Kyiv who have ties to Nazism.
