Latvians in Russia

[2] During the 19th century, many landless Latvian peasants moved eastwards, establishing settlements in Siberia and the Urals.

A number of Latvian Bolshevik politicians and activists settled down in Russia after the Russian Civil War and became members of the Soviet state leadership.

Numerous Latvian cultural organizations, publishing houses and schools were created in various regions of the USSR.

First of all, the targets were activists of Latvian organizations, former Red Latvian Riflemen, immigrants from independent Latvia, and even senior governmental officials and prominent communist revolutionaries like Jānis Rudzutaks, Jukums Vācietis, Jānis Bērziņš, and others.

[citation needed] An autonomous Latvian municipality exists in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan – the Arch-Latvian Selsoviet.

Latvian language in the Russian Empire (1897)
The Latvian Lutheran Christ the Saviour Church in St. Petersburg, 19th century
Memorial plaque on the former building of the Soviet state Latvian theatre Skatuve in Moscow . The theatre was shut down by the Stalinist regime in November 1937, its staff was almost entirely executed during the Great Purge