By Alice Lee and Madeline Roache | Published on Oct. 1, 2026

With Latvia’s parliamentary election looming, a surprising figure has emerged as a fervent pro-Russia propagandist — a Latvian fugitive now living in Fiji, where he runs a website that spews pro-Kremlin narratives, NewsGuard has found.

The Latvian fugitive is Ernests Rieksts, a businessman who fled to Fiji about three years ago after facing arson-related charges in Latvia, as well as a criminal investigation into alleged hate speech. Through his seven-month old website Trieciens.com (Latvian for “Impact”) and its social media channels, Rieksts posts articles boosting pro-Russian candidates in the Oct. 3, 2026, Latvian parliamentary elections. His website also advances false and misleading claims about the European Union, its leaders, and Ukraine.

Asked about his pro-Russia website, Rieksts, who appears to be approximately 40 years old, told NewsGuard via WhatsApp message that Trieciens.com is “not political…It’s a project that supports real values like free speech.” 

Opinion polls in Latvia, a Baltic state that borders Russia, Belarus, Estonia, and Lithuania, show that Russia-friendly parties could take 25 percent of seats in parliament in the election, up from eight percent now, according to Politico. This outcome could offer a bigger platform in Latvia to promote pro-Kremlin interests and put pressure on the country to reduce its commitment to Ukraine.

A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO DISINFORMATION

NewsGuard has not found the same sort of intensive Russian disinformation campaign in Latvia seen in other former communist states ahead of their elections, including Armenia, Hungary, and Moldova. This is likely due to the presence of vocal parties in Latvia already representing pro-Russia interests and the fact that Latvia has a robust anti-disinformation apparatus. Giedrius Sakalauskas, director of Res Publica — Civic Resilience Center, a Lithuania-based non-profit that monitors disinformation, told NewsGuard in a September 2026 email, “Latvia’s main strengths are institutional awareness, familiarity with Kremlin influence methods and cooperation among state institutions, independent media and civil society”

Against this backdrop, Rieksts has emerged as a key player pushing the Russian line. His site aggressively promotes the Russia-friendly Sovereign Power/Alliance of Young Latvians, a new two-party grouping that is projected to enter parliament for the first time in these elections. He has also been pushing false claims, ranging from fabricated allegations about European leaders to debunked narratives about Ukraine.

SITE ECHOES RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA

NewsGuard found that Trieciens.com regularly echoes falsehoods used in Russian influence campaigns. For example, a May 2026 article titled, “THREE THINGS THAT ERASED LATVIA’S SOVEREIGNTY” stated that the 2003 Latvian referendum to join the EU was a “fraud,” because “EU money bought … votes.” 

There is no evidence that the EU “bought” votes before the referendum or that the referendum was a “fraud.” The EU and the then-ruling Latvian government promoted EU membership, commissioning polls and distributing information, according to a 2003 EU report and Brussels-based independent news site EUObserver.com. NewsGuard found no credible reports of votes being bought or of any fraud instigated by the EU. The referendum’s turnout was 71 percent, with 67 percent of voters supporting EU membership.

Rieksts’ site has also published false claims spread by Russian influence operation Matryoshka targeting France, a staunch ally of Ukraine. These include fabricated stories that former French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal snorted cocaine in parliament and the debunked conspiracy theory that French First Lady Brigitte Macron is secretly a man.

Trieciens.com strongly opposes the EU and aid to Ukraine. A Sept. 10, 2026, NewsGuard analysis of all 11 articles on the site that mention Ukraine, Kyiv, or Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the headline found that 10 of them portrayed the country and its government in a negative light, claiming, for example, that is “neo-Nazism” in Ukraine is rampant. All but one of the 12 articles covering the EU focused on the purported negative effects of immigration on the region. 

The site carries signs of being inauthentic. For example, it uses AI-generated photos for some of its writers, who have no online profiles or records, NewsGuard found. Several of the authors’ profiles list a thousand articles published on Trieciens.com, despite the site having only launched in February 2026, according to domain registration records. 

Rieksts told NewsGuard that he launched his site for “everyone who does not want to support our corrupt, criminal, drug-addicted government and all of these sick Soros ideas, and who fights against corrupt, funded press like yours [NewsGuard’s].” George Soros is the billionaire philanthropist who has supported human rights, independent media, and other initiatives in Latvia and around the world. 

Trieciens.com also spreads anti-Ukrainian and anti-EU narratives on two TikTok accounts, which have a combined 14,600 subscribers. His videos, which are in Latvian, have gained 440,000 views in the last two months. Among his claims: Latvia is “occupied” by Ukraine; the EU has subjugated Latvia; and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “wants to open a second front in the Baltics,” dragging Latvia into war and provoking Russia.

FIJI FUGITIVE

In January 2021, Rieksts launched a now-defunct alternative social media platform in Latvia called DecentaSpeak, which was “explicitly advertised as a censorship-free alternative to mainstream social networks geared at a COVID-skeptic, anti-establishment, and homophobic audience in Latvia,” according to U.S. think tank The Atlantic Council.

His fortunes took a downturn when he was charged with operating an unregistered hostel in Riga, Latvia, and intentionally violating fire safety regulations, after the hostel burned down in April 2021, resulting in the deaths of nine people, according to public broadcaster LSM (Latvian Public Media). In April 2024, the Riga City Court ordered Riekst’s arrest, and he became a fugitive after he failed to attend court hearings relating to the fire, causing the trial to be suspended, LSM reported.

It is unclear when precisely he fled to Fiji, an island nation north of New Zealand in the South Pacific, where he now resides, according to his Facebook page. However, in late 2022, Rieksts began promoting a project he called “Jaunlatvija” (“New Latvia”), with the stated goal of relocating Latvians to Fiji, Reuters reported. A Latvian national named Ēriks Gasparovičs told LSM that he travelled to Fiji and met with Rieksts to discuss purchasing land, but that it was not feasible due to lack of infrastructure. “Ernests is a specialist in selling illusions to people,” Gasparovičs told LSM.

In a November 2024 Latvian Telegram post, Rieksts said of the project: “New Latvia Fiji is a unique example of how Latvians can dream and realize bold ideas, even in the most remote corners of the world.”

POLICE TAKE NOTICE

The New Latvia project soon drew the attention of Latvian police, who in 2023 opened a fraud investigation into the scheme, according to LSM. It is not clear if the New Latvia project is still operating, as its website, Jaunlatvija.com, was inactive as of September 2026. 

In 2023, the Latvian State Security Service launched criminal proceedings against Rieksts for the “possible glorification and justification of crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine, as well as activities aimed at inciting national and ethnic hatred and discord,” primarily on his Telegram channel, according to LSM. According to Latvian news site Press.lv., Rieksts’ reported statements included: “We should thank the Russians for bombing these stupid Ukrainians. Because I say that stupid nations are not needed in the world. The same will happen in Latvia. And we should thank the Russians for cleansing Latvia of stupid people.”

In an April 2024 interview with Lavtia news site LA.lv he said: “I am a scandalous personality who has stepped on everyone’s toes.” 

The Latvian State Police and the State Security Services did not respond to NewsGuard’s emailed requests for comment on Rieksts’ cases.

TIES TO PRO-RUSSIA PARTY

The site’s only seemingly authentic author is Andris Petrovs, a member of the pro-Russia Sovereign Power/Alliance of Young Latvians party alliance, who is running for a seat in western Latvia. The site states that Petrovs has written 1,000 articles in the seven months since the site was established, all of which feature a graphic promoting his candidacy, stating “For an honest Latvia — strong families, safe streets, Latvian language and culture in the first place.” 

The two conservative parties Sovereign Power and the Alliance of Young Latvians are running jointly in the 2026 election on a ticket of national sovereignty, strict immigration controls, and a skeptical stance toward the EU and Ukraine, according to their websites. The predicted total 25 percent win for the alliance along with Latvia First, another party that calls for economic ties with Russia, would substantially increase the anti-Ukraine voices in a parliament dominated by pro-Western parties.

Elina Vrobļevska, Deputy Director of the Riga-based think-tank Centre for East European Policy Studies, said that the pro-Russia parties are “following the classic populist and pro-Kremlin playbook, like the [far-right Alternative for Germany party] AfD in Germany.” She added: “Parliament would be a platform for them to promote their ideas and narratives. This would be a win for Russia.”

Latvia, along with its Baltic neighbours Lithuania and Estonia, has developed relatively strong counter-disinformation capabilities that deter Russian influence campaigns, according to Sakalauskas, the Lithuania-based disinformation expert. However, “parts of society remain vulnerable,” he told NewsGuard in a September 2026 email — which is why efforts like those of Rieksts’ could make a difference.

Editing by Dina Contini and Eric Effron