Latvian political leader Jūlija Stepaņenko claims both Russia and Ukraine started the war, questioning Russia’s sole aggressor status.

Political & Legal SubversionPolitical ManipulationUnknown

Unclassified

Summary

On May 12, 2024, Delfi, a leading Latvian news media, shared a video of Jūlija Stepaņenko, the leader of the 'Suverēnā vara' party's European Parliament election list, expressing her view that both Russia and Ukraine share responsibility for starting the war. This statement diverges from the generally accepted narrative that Russia is the aggressor in the conflict with Ukraine. The statement was made public via a Twitter thread including a video from the program 'Nākamais, lūdzu!'. This type of political messaging may contribute to political manipulation and contestation of the aggressor narrative in Latvia.

Classification

Confidence: High

Event describes a political figure in Latvia making a controversial statement about the origin of the Ukraine war, which is a form of political manipulation and narrative contestation, but does not describe hostile aggressive actions or defense preparations.

Source URL

https://twitter.com/DelfiLV/status/1789602439726788720

Open source

Provenance

Publisher: csv-import
Submitted: Feb 1, 2026, 00:14 UTC
Last updated: Nov 8, 2026, 22:45 UTC
Event time: May 12, 2024, 10:24 UTC

Published as a hybrid-warfare signal with a public source and reviewer-approved assessment bands. See the methodology for how records are assessed.

Raw record

{
  "id": "9c4411a3-ae8f-4df9-8085-08abf4601960",
  "url": "https://twitter.com/DelfiLV/status/1789602439726788720",
  "source": "csv-import",
  "status": "approved",
  "category": "Political & Legal Subversion",
  "subcategory": "Political Manipulation",
  "incident_type": "Unknown",
  "country": "Latvia",
  "source_reliability": "C",
  "info_credibility": "3",
  "tags": [
    "Latvia",
    "Political Manipulation",
    "russia–ukraine war",
    "Narrative Contestation",
    "Jūlija Stepaņenko",
    "Suverēnā vara"
  ],
  "nodes": [],
  "countries": [
    "Latvia"
  ],
  "where_text": "Unknown",
  "headline": null,
  "description": "On May 12, 2024, Latvian news outlet Delfi posted a Twitter thread featuring Jūlija Stepaņenko, leader of the 'Suverēnā vara' party's European Parliament election list, who publicly stated that both Russia and Ukraine started the war, challenging the widespread attribution of aggression solely to Russia.",
  "summary_short": "Latvian political leader Jūlija Stepaņenko claims both Russia and Ukraine started the war, questioning Russia’s sole aggressor status.",
  "summary_extended": "On May 12, 2024, Delfi, a leading Latvian news media, shared a video of Jūlija Stepaņenko, the leader of the 'Suverēnā vara' party's European Parliament election list, expressing her view that both Russia and Ukraine share responsibility for starting the war. This statement diverges from the generally accepted narrative that Russia is the aggressor in the conflict with Ukraine. The statement was made public via a Twitter thread including a video from the program 'Nākamais, lūdzu!'. This type of political messaging may contribute to political manipulation and contestation of the aggressor narrative in Latvia.",
  "actor_primary": "Jūlija Stepaņenko",
  "target_primary": null,
  "location_text": "Latvia",
  "location_region": null,
  "location_coordinates_lat": 56.879635,
  "location_coordinates_lon": 24.603189,
  "location_precision": "Regional",
  "is_aggressor_signal": false,
  "signal_type": "HYBRID_SIGNAL",
  "is_hybrid_war_signal": false,
  "classification_complete": true,
  "hybrid_signal_complete": true,
  "classification_confidence": "High",
  "classification_rationale": "Event describes a political figure in Latvia making a controversial statement about the origin of the Ukraine war, which is a form of political manipulation and narrative contestation, but does not describe hostile aggressive actions or defense preparations.",
  "event_time_utc": "2024-05-12T10:24:00.000Z",
  "end_time_utc": null,
  "event_time_confidence": "exact",
  "created_at": "2026-02-01T00:14:41.730Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-08T22:45:01.937Z",
  "reliability_band": "strong",
  "location_precision_band": "regional",
  "time_precision_band": "exact",
  "severity_band": "minor",
  "attribution_confidence_band": "high",
  "attribution_basis": "single_source"
}

Public assessmentReliability: StrongSeverity: MinorAttribution: HighSingle sourceTime: ExactLocation: Regional

Source reliability

Info credibility

Event time

May 12, 2024, 10:24 UTC

Event time confidence

exact

Location

Latvia

Primary actor

Jūlija Stepaņenko

Country

Latvia

Countries

Latvia

Tags

Latvia, Political Manipulation, russia–ukraine war, Narrative Contestation, Jūlija Stepaņenko, Suverēnā vara

Loading signal...

{ "id": "9c4411a3-ae8f-4df9-8085-08abf4601960", "url": "https://twitter.com/DelfiLV/status/1789602439726788720", "source": "csv-import", "status": "approved", "category": "Political & Legal Subversion", "subcategory": "Political Manipulation", "incident_type": "Unknown", "country": "Latvia", "source_reliability": "C", "info_credibility": "3", "tags": [ "Latvia", "Political Manipulation", "russia–ukraine war", "Narrative Contestation", "Jūlija Stepaņenko", "Suverēnā vara" ], "nodes": [], "countries": [ "Latvia" ], "where_text": "Unknown", "headline": null, "description": "On May 12, 2024, Latvian news outlet Delfi posted a Twitter thread featuring Jūlija Stepaņenko, leader of the 'Suverēnā vara' party's European Parliament election list, who publicly stated that both Russia and Ukraine started the war, challenging the widespread attribution of aggression solely to Russia.", "summary_short": "Latvian political leader Jūlija Stepaņenko claims both Russia and Ukraine started the war, questioning Russia’s sole aggressor status.", "summary_extended": "On May 12, 2024, Delfi, a leading Latvian news media, shared a video of Jūlija Stepaņenko, the leader of the 'Suverēnā vara' party's European Parliament election list, expressing her view that both Russia and Ukraine share responsibility for starting the war. This statement diverges from the generally accepted narrative that Russia is the aggressor in the conflict with Ukraine. The statement was made public via a Twitter thread including a video from the program 'Nākamais, lūdzu!'. This type of political messaging may contribute to political manipulation and contestation of the aggressor narrative in Latvia.", "actor_primary": "Jūlija Stepaņenko", "target_primary": null, "location_text": "Latvia", "location_region": null, "location_coordinates_lat": 56.879635, "location_coordinates_lon": 24.603189, "location_precision": "Regional", "is_aggressor_signal": false, "signal_type": "HYBRID_SIGNAL", "is_hybrid_war_signal": false, "classification_complete": true, "hybrid_signal_complete": true, "classification_confidence": "High", "classification_rationale": "Event describes a political figure in Latvia making a controversial statement about the origin of the Ukraine war, which is a form of political manipulation and narrative contestation, but does not describe hostile aggressive actions or defense preparations.", "event_time_utc": "2024-05-12T10:24:00.000Z", "end_time_utc": null, "event_time_confidence": "exact", "created_at": "2026-02-01T00:14:41.730Z", "updated_at": "2026-11-08T22:45:01.937Z", "reliability_band": "strong", "location_precision_band": "regional", "time_precision_band": "exact", "severity_band": "minor", "attribution_confidence_band": "high", "attribution_basis": "single_source" }