Latvia Formally Declares Russian Journalist Leonid Ragozin Persona Non Grata
Latvian authorities have added Riga-based Russian journalist Leonid Ragozin to the persona non grata list. The grounds for the decision will not be disclosed, citing national security.
Latvian authorities have formally declared Leonid Ragozin, a Russian journalist living in Riga, persona non grata, local media reported. Ragozin confirmed it himself on Wednesday, 14 October. The decision means he must leave the country where he lives.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Līga Jermacāne told the news portal Delfi that an unnamed Russian national was added to the list last Wednesday. Ministry adviser Toms Sadovskis said the reasons behind the decision would not be made public because of national security considerations.
Ragozin says he was notified of his expulsion the day before. He believes the move is retaliation for his critical reporting and commentary on Western policy and far-right political networks. In his view, Latvia deliberately chose this mechanism so that he could not challenge the expulsion in Latvian courts. On X he wrote that it is a huge personal tragedy: he is being evicted from his only beloved home and deprived of his circle of friends and support.
In an interview with Meduza published on Tuesday, Ragozin said he was outside Latvia and voiced concern that returning to Russia could put him at risk of imprisonment.
Who Ragozin is
Ragozin is a former producer for the BBC Russian Service and an editor at Russian Newsweek. His freelance commentary has recently appeared in Al Jazeera, Jacobin and The American Conservative. His remarks on a far-left podcast drew public criticism: he argued that the Kremlin felt compelled to use "brute force" in response to Western encroachment on its sphere of influence. In an August column for The American Conservative, he wrote that ordinary Russians see greater threats from Western countries than from their own government.
In his X post, Ragozin said he condemns Russian aggression and supports Ukraine's sovereignty, but will continue to criticize Western countries for what he sees as mishandling the conflict.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Latvia has declared more than 150 Russian cultural figures, state media journalists and commentators persona non grata.
