Ragozin wrote on the social network X that the document does not specify any offenses or particular statements that served as the basis for the demand to leave the country.
He said he attributes the decision to declare him persona non grata to political motives. The journalist stated that this status is intended for undesirable diplomats and is not subject to appeal, which deprives a person of access to justice.
Ragozin called what is happening revenge by far-right politicians for a 2019 investigation into ties between representatives of the Latvian party National Alliance and Ukrainian far-right figures and Russian neo-Nazis. On the "Zhivoy Gvozd" broadcast, he specified that the expulsion procedure was initiated by Interior Minister Janis Dombrava, who represents that party, and that Dombrava had sought the journalist's deportation since taking office on May 28, 2026.
Ragozin called accusations of spreading Kremlin narratives and representing Russian interests slanderous. In his view, the Latvian authorities do not expect to achieve expulsion through court, so they resorted to the procedure of declaring him persona non grata.
The journalist's conflict with the National Alliance began in 2019, when an investigation prepared together with Re:Baltica center journalist Sanita Jemberga was published. The publication spoke of ties between party representatives and Russian neo-Nazis who had settled in Kyiv, including the creator of the WotanJugend project and one of the founders of the RDK, Alexei Levkin, as well as a visit by a party delegation to Kyiv for the Asgardsrei festival of national-socialist black metal.
In late September 2026, on the eve of parliamentary elections in Latvia, Dombrava called on Foreign Minister Baiba Braze to declare Ragozin an undesirable person, accusing him of justifying Russian aggression and discrediting Ukraine's political and military leadership. After that, a dispute arose between the Interior Ministry and the Foreign Ministry over which agency should make the decision on expulsion.
The professional community spoke out in defense of the journalist. The head of the organization Media Hub Riga, Sabine Sile, stated that the situation creates a dangerous precedent, since a person is deprived of the opportunity to defend himself in court. On October 12, Russian journalists in exile sent a letter to two UN special rapporteurs asking them to pay attention to Ragozin's case; more than 140 people signed it.
The Re:Baltica investigative center said on October 7 that it has not cooperated with Ragozin since 2019 and considers some of his statements on social networks unacceptable. The chair of the board of the Latvian Journalists' Association, Anastasia Tetarenko-Supe, said in a comment to Novaya Gazeta Europe that the organization is in solidarity with Re:Baltica.