Latvian journalist Yuri Alekseev, who adheres to pro-Russian views, escaped from Riga to Belarus, Alexey Stefanov, an employee of Russia Today media, said in his telegram channel.
Stefanov claims that in Latvia, 66-year-old Alekseev “could have been sent to prison on Tuesday for a year and a month for allegedly inciting hostility” for comments that unknown people wrote “on his behalf” with calls to destroy Latvians.” Yura is currently staying with friends in Minsk,” the RT employee said. Alekseev’s further plans are not reported.
Yuri Alekseev, a native of Norilsk, was at various times the editor-in-chief of the Business & Baltic, Kommersant Baltic, and other publications in LatviaBusiness.lv. In January 2023, the Riga district court sentenced Alekseev to 1 year and 1 month in prison on a combination of charges, but he remained free — he was placed on probation – early supervision for a year.
After the Russian military invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, supporters of Russia and Lukashenka regularly flee from democratic countries to Belarus. One of the most famous defectors is former Polish judge Tomasz Szmydt.
