Latvians, Ukrainians face shared experiences, develop bonds

Riga, Latvia -

Ukrainians fleeing war and heading to Latvia are being met with compassion, as people from both countries share an understanding of the circumstances.

Iana is from Kyiv, Ukraine but was working in Moscow when Russian military forces invaded her home country.

“I wake up with a message from my friends: ‘Iana, we have a war,’” she told CTV National News.

Knowing that she needed to leave Russia as soon as possible, she fled to the Latvian border, about 700 kilometres away, where she met Felix, who volunteered to give her a ride to the Latvian capital of Riga.

“I have a lot of friends from Russia, like a lot of friends from Ukraine,” Felix said.

Many Latvians have a unique understanding for what the Ukrainian people are going through, as the country has spent time under Nazi and Soviet rule in its not-too-distant history.

It’s a history that compels Latvians like Jannis to step up and help.

He is about to head out on his third journey to Ukraine -- about 1,000 kilmoetres away -- to bring Ukrainian refugees back to Latvia.

“We know we need to help each other, and we need to be one big family,” he said.

Not everyone in Latvia is supportive of the Ukrainians, however, as about a quarter of Latvia’s population is Russian and the older generation is particularly divided when it comes to the invasion.

The division even runs through Iana’s own family. Her dad lives in Moscow and believes what he is seeing on television, while her mother is in hiding outside Kyiv.