Ivan is 55 years old and he is a Russian speaker lives in Kraslava. He called himself homeless, and apparently squats in an unoccupied building in town. He was in prison for some petty crimes; before that he worked in a collective farm and lost his job. He said his family currently lives in Moscow.

When I asked, what did think of the war in Ukraine. He responded that its bad that Russia invaded Ukraine. He added, though the Latvian government is helping Ukrainian refugees who arrived in the country after the war (and not the locals who are deprived economically) but at least then can be safe.