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BT used a video filmed in Crimea to back claims of a crisis in Latvia
In the clip, a woman complains about the high cost of living.
A prolonged economic crisis is deepening in the Baltic states, anchor Yekaterina Tikhomirova said on the show “Katyusha’s Calculation.” As proof, she showed a video of a woman complaining about the high cost of living. The Weekly Top Fake team tracked down the original and found it had nothing to do with Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia.
Anchor Yekaterina Tikhomirova spoke about the worsening economic situation in the Baltic states, particularly Latvia, due to “sanctions wars with Belarus and Russia,” during the March 17, 2025, episode of “Katyusha’s Calculation” on the NEWS.BY YouTube channel. She backed up her claim with a video showing a crying woman complaining about having no money.
“I honestly don’t understand why life is so expensive! Why does something as basic as housing, a roof over your head, cost a ridiculous amount of money? Why do I have to work myself to the bone and still only make enough to buy food?” she asks in Russian.
The WTF team found the original video on TikTok. It was posted by a user named rika. Among the hashtags under the video are #lifeinrussia and #russia.
The woman regularly posts unboxings of items from Wildberries, talks about her salary, and quotes the amount in rubles. In one of her YouTube videos, she says she was born and lives in Crimea.
In other words, the woman presented on “Katyusha’s Calculation” as a Latvian resident has no connection to the Baltic states and is actually describing life in Russian-occupied territory. The video went viral on social media, racking up more than a million views by the time of our publication.
