Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:34Riga bus station. Daily passenger buses depart from here,
00:00:38including to Russia and Belarus. The Latvian
00:00:41government plans to ban bus services to these
00:00:44countries. Politicians refer to the conclusions of law enforcement agencies that
00:00:47bus communication between Latvia and Russia and Belarus threatens
00:00:51national security. Passenger traffic between Latvia
00:00:55and Russia and Belarus is already reduced to a minimum. Planes to these
00:00:58countries from Latvia, trains do not run, only
00:01:02buses remain, while the State Security Service of Latvia, like
00:01:05the country's Foreign Ministry, regularly urges Latvian residents not to
00:01:08travel to Russia and Belarus, which Latvia, after the full-scale
00:01:12invasion of Ukraine, officially considers to be
00:01:15aggressor countries. In the current geopolitical conditions, trips
00:01:19to Russia and Belarus are dangerous, on their territory, the special services of these
00:01:23countries, in order to obtain valuable information and force
00:01:26cooperation, can use aggressive and illegal methods.
00:02:30They go for business, they go, I don't know, the Latvian
00:02:34embassy still comes, asks us to take
00:02:37a person who will get a visa at the border, and such people
00:02:41exist, because the embassy doesn't have time to issue, for example, a close relative
00:02:44died, mother, father, someone else, and even such people exist, that is, people come
00:02:48to us with a special document from the Latvian
00:02:52embassy, we take them on the bus, because drivers must check visas,
00:02:55he doesn't have a visa, this visa is opened for him at the border. According to
00:02:59the Latvian Road Transport Directorate, currently in Latvia
00:03:0221 permits have been issued for regular
00:03:05bus services to third countries, that is, outside
00:03:09the European Union. Here is the list: a significant part
00:03:12of the destinations are Ukrainian cities, Kyiv, Odesa, and
00:03:15others. Also from Riga you can go to Moscow and
00:03:18St. Petersburg, to Minsk with a transfer in Vilnius. In
00:03:22the Latvian Association of Carriers they say that in fact only
00:03:25direct routes can be banned. Another thing is transit
00:03:28flights. For example, a Latvian carrier takes you to the border,
00:03:32on the other side a Russian or
00:03:35Belarusian bus is already waiting. If you don't close, don't completely block
00:03:39the border, yes, well, that is, completely closed for the crossing
00:03:42of any transport, pedestrians, there,
00:03:46well, they, they can close there cyclists, they didn't close for bicycles
00:03:49before, they moved on mopeds there, yes, but
00:03:53then they closed it, because a lot of people were moving, well, there are
00:03:56two options, either you completely close the border, that's it.
00:05:02I think it's stupid, people need to go anywhere, there are relatives
00:05:05and friends everywhere, we are not closed, well, if there is demand, why
00:05:09not, as long as there is demand, if if.
00:05:42that people will not be able to move, international affairs are one thing, and
00:05:46communication is another. Another challenge for Latvian carriers this
00:05:50year was the surge in fuel prices against the backdrop of the escalating conflict in the Middle
00:05:54East. Ecolines company, for example, stopped all commercial
00:05:58bus services within Latvia. The company stated that
00:06:01the decision was made due to the lack of state support and rising
00:06:05costs.
00:06:13Juliana has lived in Latvia all her conscious life, graduated from
00:06:16school in Riga, studied at the University of Latvia, works,
00:06:20hosts an intellectual quiz. Recently,
00:06:23a friend sent Juliana a link to a report on Latvian television about
00:06:27a young man who, in addition to Latvian citizenship,
00:06:30also has Russian citizenship, which means he could now lose
00:06:34his Latvian passport. "Does this not concern you by any chance?" asked
00:06:37Juliana's friend.
00:06:40At that moment, I sat down and thought. Perhaps this really
00:06:44concerns me, all these years I hadn't thought about it. Juliana also
00:06:47has dual citizenship, Latvian and Russian. She was born in
00:06:51Moscow, went to first grade there, and then, when she was 7
00:06:55years old, she and her family moved to Latvia, to the ethnic homeland
00:06:58of Juliana's mother. The girl has few memories of life in Russia,
00:07:01but a few vivid images
00:07:04have remained.
00:07:06We had a country house quite far from Moscow, in such a real Russian
00:07:10backwater, where twice a week.
00:08:12full confidence that it would somehow be resolved someday,
00:08:15now when I think about it, it seems silly to me. Why
00:08:19is the situation Juliana found herself in threatening her with the loss of her Latvian
00:08:23passport? Latvian law prohibits dual citizenship for persons over
00:08:2625 years old.
00:08:29The exceptions are countries of the European Union, of which Latvia is a part, and
00:08:33a number of other countries. Russia and Belarus are not included in this list. In other
00:08:37words, when a person reaches adulthood, 18 years old,
00:08:40enters adult life, he
00:08:42has 7 years to, if he wants to retain Latvian citizenship,
00:08:46renounce the second Russian one. In practice,
00:08:49renouncing a Russian passport is not so easy, say those who
00:08:53go through this process. It is necessary to overcome a number
00:08:56of bureaucratic procedures that can take years.
00:09:00In some cases, documents are needed that can only be obtained by
00:09:03physically traveling to Russia. Juliana says that
00:09:07this option does not
00:09:08suit her.
00:10:25if he stops the renunciation process, then Latvian citizenship can indeed be
00:10:29taken away. If a person is still deprived of Latvian
00:10:32citizenship, he can apply for a Latvian residence permit or
00:10:36go through the naturalization process and re-obtain a Latvian passport,
00:10:39again, by renouncing his Russian one. The deprivation
00:10:43of citizenship can be challenged in court, however, as lawyers note,
00:10:46the court in such cases more often sides with the state. For example,
00:10:50one can apply to the European Court of Human Rights, for example, if then
00:10:54the person in... expresses, for example, expulsion, yes, that is,
00:10:57the only thing that the consequence of deprivation of citizenship can be that
00:11:00a person is forced to lose some family
00:11:04or kinship ties, but
00:11:07again, since this is mainly a matter of national
00:11:10competence, such cases exist, but they often do not
00:11:13reach international courts. Juliana is currently in a waiting
00:11:17mode, she has put herself on the waiting list for a visit to the Russian embassy to
00:11:20clarify the status of her Russian citizenship, she is waiting for an answer from
00:11:23the Latvian migration service.
00:11:57The complete cessation of trade and economic ties with Russia and
00:12:00Belarus has been discussed in the Latvian government for more than a year since the
00:12:03full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February
00:12:062022. Latvia, like the neighboring Baltic countries,
00:12:09unequivocally condemned the attack, recognized Russia as an aggressor
00:12:13country, and Belarus as its accomplice. Latvia, Lithuania, and
00:12:16Estonia are consistently severing ties with Russia at all levels. On the other
00:12:20hand, for 4 years of full-scale war, Latvia
00:12:23has been recognized as a leader of the European Union.
00:12:55We are fighting to be able to balance the political goal with economic
00:12:58consequences, yes, this may have negative economic
00:13:02consequences, but in the short term, in the long
00:13:05term, I believe this will have positive economic
00:13:08consequences. Let's look at the statistics, last
00:13:11year, 2025, Latvia exported goods to Russia worth
00:13:15over 962 million euros. Almost half
00:13:18of this is the already mentioned alcohol, this is according to data from the Central
00:13:22Statistical Bureau of Latvia. Last year,
00:13:25Russia was in sixth place among Latvia's main export partners.
00:13:29Compare this with the figures before the war in 2021, when
00:13:33supplies peaked. Latvia exported goods to Russia worth
00:13:361,197
00:13:38million euros, a total decrease of
00:13:4019.20%.
00:13:43In fact, the Latvian government says, today we are talking about transit
00:13:47exports, that is, deliveries to Russia of goods from other countries
00:13:50through Latvia. In imports, that is, deliveries from Russia to
00:13:54Latvia. The collapse after the start of the full-scale war is critical,
00:13:57according to official data, 93%. The Latvian
00:14:01Ministry of Economics says that from a moral and ethical standpoint, a complete
00:14:05refusal to trade with Russia is understandable, but in practice, such
00:14:08a decision will not have much effect. Goods will continue to be supplied
00:14:12to Russia through other EU
00:14:14countries.
00:14:19Sometimes the argument is heard that we need to make life difficult for Russia by introducing such a ban in Latvia that we will not export to Russia, for example, alcohol.
00:14:22экспортировать в Россию, например, алкого.
00:14:25But if other countries do not do the same, then it is clear that these goods
00:14:29will still end up in Russia, through Hungary or Slovakia,
00:14:33the most prominent examples. The initiators of the ban respond by saying that
00:14:36the goal is to set an example for other European countries to influence
00:14:40decision-makers in Brussels. What do Latvian
00:14:43traders think about the proposal to completely sever economic
00:14:47relations with the eastern neighbor? In the Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
00:14:50the largest business association in Latvia, they say that today such
00:14:54a decision would cost Latvia approximately 1-2%
00:14:58of national GDP. We, like the LTRK, in
00:15:02the Chamber of Commerce and Industry also urge to cease any
00:15:05cooperation with Russia and Belarus. At the same time, we do not
00:15:08live on a desert island, it is a global world. It is clear that some
00:15:12enterprises in South America or Africa, Asia look
00:15:15differently at our region. Many of them consider Russia a suitable
00:15:19partner, so completely banning something in our world
00:15:23is impossible. What can we do?
00:15:37ore, a mineral that Russia can use in
00:15:41the arms industry and, accordingly, in the war against
00:15:44Ukraine. The ban was included in the fourteenth package of anti-Russian
00:15:47sanctions, adopted by EU countries in the summer of 2024.
00:15:51Before that, investigative journalists found out that in 2023,
00:15:55Estonia and Latvia accounted for almost 90%
00:15:58of the transit of manganese ore sent to Russia.
00:16:00And since the beginning of the full-scale war, the volumes of these supplies have grown
00:16:04exponentially. Manganese ore is just one
00:16:08example, says Estonian economist Ron Luvischuk. This
00:16:11year, investigators found out that an Irish factory, partly
00:16:15owned by Russian billionaire Oleg
00:16:18Deripaska, is suspected of supplying alumina to
00:16:21Russian factories that produce weapons for the war in
00:16:24Ukraine. An Estonian company may be involved in ensuring
00:16:28the logistics of these supplies. Formally,
00:16:31this is not a sanctioned
00:16:35product. This alumina,
00:16:37no one prohibits business from conducting
00:16:41this, well, making
00:16:44such deals, because indeed, well, the ship does not enter
00:16:48Estonian ports, it goes from
00:16:51Ireland to Russia, aluminum
00:16:53is used, among other things, in military equipment,
00:16:57and here's the question, for aluminum, I don't know,
00:17:01you could just take a pen, there's an aluminum
00:17:04part here, or it's also made and we are like...
00:18:07needs some raw materials from Russia and doesn't want to
00:18:10highlight it, there are many legal ways to
00:18:13do this, introduce some intermediary who will appear in
00:18:17all the lists, but this will not reflect the real picture, or
00:18:21some hypothetical enterprise declares cargo to Kazakhstan at customs,
00:18:24that is, no connection with exports to Russia and corresponding
00:18:28lists, but no one knows
00:19:38a real threat: there are criteria for launch,
00:19:41if they are violated, the launch will be canceled.
00:19:45Problems with hydrogen leakage occurred even in the times of the Space Shuttles, and we
00:19:49successfully solved them. In the situation with Artemis and the
00:19:52SLS rocket, it is important to remember that this was actually the first time these
00:19:55systems interacted as a single
00:19:58unit.
00:20:33We moved from Russia practically without money, without work, without pay.
00:20:37Back in April, we only started thinking about moving, honestly, I cried
00:20:41all day, how to leave family, friends, all the familiar
00:20:44life. So, just yesterday, work, home
00:20:48and familiar life.
00:21:07The new wave of escape from Russia is not as noisy and massive as in
00:21:102022, it is more prepared and much
00:21:14more silent. Support our work with your
00:21:17comment under this video. Join the discussion
00:21:20and share your experience of life in today's
00:21:23Russia, if it is safe for you,
00:21:27let's go. Russians fleeing with their families from mobilization,
00:21:30fearing possible repression from the state,
00:21:33do not directly state the reasons for their escape, some
00:21:37use the phrase: you yourselves understand what is being talked about,
00:21:40we decided that first we would calmly prepare, I would close
00:21:44the studio, save money and leave in the fall, but life
00:21:47decided otherwise, already in May a letter came to... public services, I think
00:21:51you yourselves understand what is being talked about, at that moment it became clear,
00:21:55there was no more time, a week later my husband flew to
00:21:58Sri Lanka, alone, for the first time abroad, without a job
00:22:01on the money we managed to scrape together, three
00:22:04weeks later I arrived, the main lesson of the collective experience of those who fled
00:22:08mobilization in 2022, now it is necessary to act
00:22:12preventively, leave Russia, as those in the mobilization
00:22:16risk group believe, without waiting for a summons from
00:22:18the military enlistment office. That if you pack all your belongings, withdraw
00:22:22all your money from all accounts, buy a "seven" with it,
00:22:26pack all your belongings into this "seven"
00:22:29and leave Ulyanovsk for said that this car would not cope,
00:22:32so we simply decided to take it and check it, that's how our
00:22:36great journey began, while everyone dreams, we just
00:22:39take, start the "seven" and drive it
00:22:43forward, into our bright future, kilometer - rock, uncertainty
00:22:46ahead, breakdowns, stops and... and nothing
00:22:50stopped us, we didn't want to turn back, no matter what, we only drove
00:22:54forward, every kilometer brought us closer to our little
00:22:57dream, to our new life from
00:23:00scratch, and we did it and yes, the "seven"
00:23:03made it. Russians are now mainly fleeing mobilization
00:23:07to Georgia and Armenia, we didn't dare to talk about it for a long
00:23:10time, in general we are leaving the city,
00:23:14and not for two weeks, yes
00:23:17we are moving permanently, but... or not for
00:23:20long? On July 10, we pack up our whole
00:23:24life, put our son in a car seat and leave for
00:23:28Armenia. The funniest thing is that we are driving there
00:23:31in a car, 2,000 km, mountains,
00:23:34passes, traffic jams at the border, and
00:23:38cats, of course, are with us. Friends
00:23:41are tapping their temples, asking,
00:23:43why? And we just realized that if we don't do
00:23:47it now, we never will. Here's what Georgy
00:23:51says about his urgent move from Russia. The day before
00:23:54we left, they made us international passports in just two weeks, we
00:23:58quit our jobs and
00:24:01bought a bus ticket Rostov-Yerevan. This is
00:24:04Rostislav, his escape from Russia is also connected with
00:24:07his unwillingness to be mobilized. My move was unplanned, it was super
00:24:11spontaneous, so I first got a job in delivery, so that I could find
00:24:14a normal job later. Without waiting for a summons from
00:24:17the military enlistment office, Ivan left
00:24:20in May 2026, this is me driving in the car,
00:24:23it turns out, to the construction site, this is me after I did
00:24:27everything, such a dirty guy, things
00:24:30are packed, in Armenia he got a job as a wall
00:24:34grinder, a year ago I was the director of a communications salon,
00:24:37suit, KPI, sales plan, everything was serious, I was 19 years old,
00:24:41I already had a position, I thought, this is it, this is life, everything is going as
00:24:44it should, now I am sitting on a bench in Yerevan, without a position, without
00:24:48a stable job, wife.
00:25:50I am 18 years old and I moved to another country alone, or rather,
00:25:54to Vietnam for now, in 2026
00:25:58relocation is not just a change of residence, but
00:26:01the only way.
00:26:10with each passing day, children will increasingly learn to be in a vacuum and
00:26:14isolation, instead of knowledge in school, more and more ideological
00:26:17indoctrination, substitution of true history and human
00:26:20concepts, raise a child to be an obedient cog in the system and
00:26:24future cannon fodder. An interesting detail: in Yandex search
00:26:28engines, the number of queries about moving to other countries reached
00:26:31a maximum. This is stated in the statistical report of the company, compared to
00:26:35the first quarter of last year, in the spring of 2026,
00:26:39Russians began to ask three times more often how and where to
00:26:42leave Russia, only in March, according to the newspaper
00:26:46Vedomosti, there were about 40,000 such queries. I
00:26:49didn't want to leave my country, although I had extensive international experience,
00:26:53international exchange, education, and so on, but nevertheless I didn't want
00:26:57to live in Russia, and I think this is a
00:27:00vector for many people, and... now everyone understands that there is
00:27:04no future, well, that is, hypothetically there is no
00:27:08image of the future, there is no understanding of what will happen in six months, in
00:27:11a year, and moreover, there are risks that are associated, among other things, with
00:27:15mobilization, with military conscription, which people
00:27:19feel on themselves, well, actually, they make decisions based
00:27:22on this, such a wave as it was in September 2022,
00:27:26after the announcement in Russia of partial mobilization, when half a million
00:30:062022, the war changed everything, we are showing a new history
00:30:09of Ukraine, about incredible strength of spirit, about
00:30:13fighting, no matter
00:30:14what.
00:30:19Watch the joint project of Radio Liberty and the Current Time TV
00:30:23channel, what is really happening in
00:30:26Ukraine.
00:30:38In a matter of seconds, an explosion destroys the cooling towers of a nuclear power plant,
00:30:42an impressive sight, but
00:30:45dismantling the entire station takes decades, this
00:30:48happens because many materials are radioactive and cannot simply
00:30:52be disposed of as nuclear waste used to be.
00:30:54Nuclear energy.
00:30:58Атомная энергетика.