The Russian-language Latvian news outlet battling Kremlin propaganda
With the Baltic state seeking to enforce the use of the Latvian language in public media, the need to ensure that the sizeable Russian-speaking population in the country still has access to reliable information has become a critical issue. This is now the mission of Latvian journalist Inna Plavoka, the founder of an independent Russian-language local media outlet that is growing in popularity despite some hostility and suspicion after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Estelle Levresse reports.
ItIt was in Daugavpils, Latvia’s second-largest city with a population of 80,000, that Mediapart met Inna Plavoka. The meeting took place in August outside the municipal theatre, an imposing colonnaded building dating back to the Soviet era, and the atmosphere in this south-eastern corner of Latvia was distinctly summery. Walking along the street this energetic woman in her fifties was often stopped by people eager to discuss her hard-hitting articles on the news website Chayka, which she founded in 2019.
