“The Baltics Are Collapsing, Ukraine Is to Blame”: How Defectors Spread Propaganda in Belarus 

The criminal, Russophobic Baltic states are on the verge of collapse, and their governments care only about Ukraine – messages like these, along with similar ones, have been circulated for nearly two years by the Belarus-based propagandist channel Grani Svobodi (Borders of Freedom).

Grani Svobodi publishes most of its content on YouTube, where they have a channel with almost 30,000 followers. They publish at least four Russian-language videos a day, each running between 20 and 90 minutes. The channel also posts short clips on YouTube, Facebook and TikTok. These are much more popular and sometimes reach well beyond 200,000 views. The TikTok videos that attract the most attention often focus on supposedly disproportionate support for Ukraine, censorship and allegedly stupid Baltic politicians.

The “analysts” are largely the same people – primarily former Russian-speaking rights activists who, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, came into conflict with security services and fled to Belarus or Russia.

Everything’s falling apart, and Ukraine is to blame

The channel mainly discusses the supposedly poor living conditions in the Baltic states and the war in Ukraine. Video authors frequently criticize Ukraine and support for it, while also calling for stronger ties with Russia and Belarus.

The video authors emphasize Latvia’s and Lithuania’s declining demographics, shortages of doctors and teachers, the countries’ debts and allegedly crumbling infrastructure. For example, former Latvian MEP Andrejs Mamikins, who fled to Russia, claims that healthcare is effectively no longer available in Latvia, while the state will always find money to treat Ukrainian soldiers. Later in the same video, the discussion host, Belarusian political scientist Aleksei Belyaev, says that the Baltic states always have enough money for war and Ukraine. He claims that they are even prepared to borrow and drive themselves into debt to fund these priorities. When the scapegoat is not Ukraine, responsibility for supposedly poor living conditions is shifted to the European Union, politicians’ incompetence and corruption. The channel contrasts life in the Baltic states with an idealized image of the Soviet era and present-day Belarus.

The message about supposedly harmful support for Ukraine is consistent with the channel’s frequent claims that the Baltic states risk provoking Russia and dragging themselves into war. For example, one video contains the false claim that Baltic countries allow Ukraine to use their airspace to attack Russia. In another video, they note that Latvia and Lithuania are producing drones for Ukraine, and assert that Russia could interpret that as participation in attacks. Meanwhile, Baltic politicians are allegedly fueling panic over a potential Russian invasion without justification.

From time to time, the channel also discusses the upcoming Latvian parliament elections. They claim that elections in Latvia are rigged, and the right people always get in.

“Nazism is spreading in the Baltic states”

One of Grani Svobodi’s main themes is Russophobia and the fight against the Russian language. For example, in one video, Mamikins claims that Latvia is issuing fines for speaking Russian on public transport. This is completely made up. Other such laws in Latvia and Lithuania are similarly invented or distorted.

The channel often equates the Baltic states with Nazi Germany. For example, historian Igor Gusev, who fled from Latvia to Russia, says in one video that “nowadays, in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, Nazism is increasing in importance every day as a state ideology”. Gusev also denies the Soviet occupation, highlights the Baltic states’ participation in the Holocaust, and describes commemorative events for fallen Latvian Legion soldiers as glorification of the Nazis.

Historian Kaspars Zellis previously explained to Re:Check that, in Russia’s understanding, anything that does not coincide with the state’s official position on the Second World War can be considered rehabilitation of Nazism. In Latvia, glorification or justification of the genocide and other crimes committed by Nazi Germany is prohibited. The “denazification” of Ukraine and the supposed prevalence of Nazism in the country are among the narratives Russia uses to justify its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In connection with Nazism, the channel frequently mentions Interior Minister Jānis Dombrava (National Alliance). In one discussion, participants conclude that he is a “leading figure of Nazism”. As an example, they cite Dombrava’s congratulations to Latvian basketball players at the U-16 championship, in which he said that everyone with “Latvian blood” is “one of us”.

Sensational stories and lies

The channel also highlights sensational cases that supposedly demonstrate the moral decline and depravity of the Baltic states. These include a report about a group in  Riga suburbs that produced pornographic material involving animals, and an AI video shared by Riga City Council member Liāna Langa (National Alliance), in which a boxer beats migrants with a whip.

In one video, discussion participants laugh at Dombrava’s letter to Spain about the migrant crisis in Ceuta, which he sent without consulting the rest of the government. In another, they mock European Commission Vice-President Kaja Kallas over supposedly promised fighter jets for Ukraine, which Estonia does not even have (these are old lies).

The channel has one video series in Latvian – Latvijas virtuve (Latvian Kitchen). It promotes many of the same narratives as the other shows, but its hosts also regularly amplify disinformation  already circulating in Latvia. These include claims previously debunked by Re:Check: that the National Armed Force soldiers will be able to permanently and without cause seize private property, that buildings in Riga are heated using crematoria, and that a Ukrainian soldier in Latvia killed three NATO soldiers. Latvijas virtuve attracts very few views – usually just over 200. This indicates that the channel’s main audience is Russian-speaking.

Who are the channel’s propagandists?

The face of Grani Svobodi is Aleksei Belyaev, who hosts most of the discussions. He is the former dean of the Faculty of Journalism at Belarusian National Technical University and regularly appears in Belarusian media.

One of the channel’s most frequent guests is the aforementioned Andrejs Mamikins. In 2023, Mamikins moved to Russia and became an active disseminator of propaganda in Kremlin media. In 2024, Latvia’s prosecutor’s office began criminal proceedings against him for glorifying Russia’s war in Ukraine. Less than a year ago, Mamikins called for Latvia to be bombed and its residents killed on Russian state television.

Other frequent expert guests include Konstantins “Solomon” Rudakovs and Romans Samuļs, who fled from Latvia to Belarus and, until just a few months ago, produced content for the Belarusian-controlled radio station Belarus. Rudakov himself has a YouTube channel with six times as many followers as Grani Svobodi. Samuļs previously managed a channel with 60,000 followers, but it has since been deleted.

Another participant presented as an expert is Sergejs Vasiļjevs, who fled to Russia and is a member of the group Baltic Antifascists. Through the Baltic Antifascists, a network of informants was established in Latvia that for an extended period provided Russian intelligence services with information about the movement of military equipment, Ukrainians and supporters of Ukraine in Latvia. Vasiļjevs’ wife, Iveta Balode, has been charged and remanded in custody for collecting intelligence in Latvia and passing it to Russian intelligence services.

The channel also features Jurijs Aleksejevs, creator of the pro-Kremlin portal IMHOclub, who has been convicted of inciting hatred and distributing child pornography. He fled to Belarus before being charged. Most of the invited “experts” moved to Russia or Belarus after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but there are exceptions. For example, Riga-born psychologist Aļona Džiodzina left for Belarus during the pandemic and has been working in Belarusian and Russian state media for six years.

Lithuania’s presence on the channel mostly consists of two fugitives. The first is Edikas Jagelavičius, who is hiding in Belarus from Lithuanian law enforcement. He worked together with Samuļs at the Belarusian-controlled radio station Belarus. The second is provocateur Antanas Kandrotas, who calls himself Celofanas (celophane). In 2023, Lithuania sentenced him to imprisonment for financial crimes. During the pandemic, Kandrotas cooperated with Latvian disinformation spreader Aivars Smans, who is now running in the parliamentary elections as a candidate for the re-established Harmony Centre. This May, Kandrotas fled to Belarus to avoid prison. He denies this and, like several others mentioned above, presents himself as a political refugee.

Re:Baltica has previously written about some of these propagandists-defectors (here). At the time, the State Security Service concluded that their motivation was financial gain. However, there is no public information about who pays them or how much they receive.