“I grew up speaking Russian, I am Russian by blood, but I don’t associate myself with Russia or the Russian world,” says Anatoly Deryugin, a major in the Latvian army.
Anatoly, 43, is one of more than one in three Latvians who speak Russian as their first language. They are now under pressure to prove their loyalty because of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Born and raised in Latvia, he has spent more than half his life in his country’s military. His mother is also a Russian-speaker from Latvia, and his father is from eastern Ukraine.
