Former BaltNews editor sentenced in Latvia for violating EU sanctions

The Riga City Court has sentenced the former editor of the propaganda website BaltNews, Andrey Solopenko, to 280 hours of community service for violating EU sanctions.

According to TVNet, the verdict has not yet entered into force—it can be appealed.

In January 2020, the Latvian State Security Service opened a criminal case against several Latvian citizens suspected of violating international sanctions by creating content for the Russian propaganda outlets Sputnik and Baltnews, which are part of the Rossiya Segodnya (RS) media holding.

The head of the media holding, Putin’s propaganda machine chief, Dmitry Kiselyov, is under international sanctions for using controlled media to promote Russia’s aggressive policy and undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty.

In September 2021, the materials were transferred to the prosecutor’s office with a proposal to initiate criminal prosecution.

There are 14 defendants in the case, including former BaltNews editor-in-chief Andriy Yakovlev and pro-Russian activist Vladimir Linderman. Several have already been sentenced.

The case against Russian propagandists started 2 years before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, and the verdict, although not final, came only 5 years later, in the 4th year of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.