Information published in the Ukrainian media about Juris Jurašs, the leading politician of the Latvian JKP party, joining the National Guard of Ukraine for the defense of Kyiv has raised questions about his previously hidden talents in the military field, as well as about the real reasons for his efforts.
"Депутат Сейму Латвії приїхав в Україну допомагати воювати з Росією" (A Member of Latvian Saeima has arrived in Ukraine to help fight against Russia) - these and similar headlines in the Ukrainian media on March 7 this year reported on Jurašs' arrival in Ukraine. The publications were accompanied by photographs of Jurašs with his Ukrainian friends.
Some Latvian media also covered the event in a similar way, focusing on the passionate choice of our politician to join the fight against the occupiers of Ukraine.
A closer reading of the Ukrainian press coverage of Jurašs' role in defending Ukraine, however, raises questions that are difficult to find clear answers to.
For example, portal.lviv.ua and news.obozrevatel.com, referring to Ihor Vasiunyk, a Member of the Ukrainian Rada who is also commander of one of the volunteer units of the National Guard of Ukraine, or Territorial Defense Forces as it is known in Ukraine, wrote: "MP Vasiunyk explained that the European politician (J. Jurašs) would work for the Territorial Defense Forces of Kyiv as a consultant on security issues. 'He came fully ready for combat. He is ready to fight. With such friends, Ukraine will win! We will thank them after the victory! But now we must stand shoulder to shoulder and help our Ukrainian soldiers.'"
The publication implies that Jurašs will not take part in urban defense battles with the invaders in Ukraine, but will advise the National Guard headquarters in Kyiv on "security issues".
The question arises: where did Jurašs, the former head of the KNAB Operational Investigations Division, suddenly get military skills or skills in wartime "security issues"?
What has been published in the Ukrainian media suggests that Ukrainians might not know the whole truth about their new friend Jurašs. For example, portal.lviv.ua and news.obozrevatel.com, quoting Vasiunyk, wrote: "He [J. Jurašs] understands that in this war Ukraine is defending not only itself but also the whole world. He was the head of Latvia's national anti-corruption bureau [meaning KNAB] for 13 years, he really put the big corrupt people in jail, including the head of Latvian Railways for 20 years for corruption. He is a man of the highest moral principles."
Not a word is mentioned about the fact that Jurašs is still on trial in Latvia for a crime which, at least in the military sphere, would make one think twice, even despite the presumption of innocence: the deliberate disclosure of state secrets.
Jurašs' publicly available CV states that he did indeed work for 13 years - from 2003 to 2016 - in the KNAB, but he was never the head of this institution. His CV states that he holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree from the Police Academy, but nowhere does it mention that he has any military background or that he has ever worked in the military.
The Ukrainian press report that the former head of Latvian Railways was jailed for 20 years for corruption is also not true. As we know, last January the Limbaži District Court acquitted the former boss of Latvian Railways, Uģis Magonis. Even the prosecutor in his accusation asked for a four-year prison sentence instead of 20.
Apart from the emotional statements of Jurašs himself and his former boss Juta Strīķe (may she rest in peace) in the press that is friendly to them, there is absolutely no public evidence that these KNAB officials played any role in catching Magonis when he received the suitcase with half a million euros, whatever the purpose of the cash. But it is known that this operation was carried out by Estonian special services.
In order to find out where Jurašs got his military knowledge and why he might have wanted to get involved in the Ukrainian war, Neatkarīgā interviewed Jurašs' former colleagues in the KNAB and the Security Police.
None of the interviewees could recall that Jurašs had ever specialized in military security or had ever participated in working groups dealing with military issues.
His former fellow students recalled that Jurašs rose to the very top of the Latvian special services unexpectedly quickly, even for those days, i.e., immediately after graduating from the Police Academy, he became an adjutant to the then head of the Security Police, Jānis Reiniks. It is not known what special skills contributed to this incredibly fast career.
But Jurašs comes from the "famous class of 1999" of the Police Academy, about which much has been written, for example here: https://nra.lv/latvija/212236-toposa-knab-prieksnieka-slavenais-izlaidums.htm
Neatkarīgā also interviewed retired Security Police Colonel Juris Leitietis. When asked whether Jurašs, while working in the Security Police and then in the KNAB, could have acquired knowledge and skills also in the military field, for example, in urban defense, the retired colonel replied: "I have no information that would cast doubt on Jurašs' ability to keep the information entrusted to him, but at the same time the information available to me shows that a criminal case for deliberate disclosure of state secrets has been initiated against him and is currently being tried in court, and it is far from certain what the final outcome of this criminal case will be. Jurašs' acquaintance and, others say, even close friendship with former Constitution Protection Bureau employee Aigars Sparāns, accused of espionage and bribe-taking, is also quite unflattering. If I understand correctly, literally a week or two ago, the Saeima Legal Affairs Committee initiated a discussion on the application of the Criminal Law article on espionage in relation to Mr Sparāns. Looking back, the so-called oligarch case was very strange, where it was revealed that information had been collected for several years on Latvian politicians, heads of state institutions, businessmen and their connections with each other. Piles of information were collected, but it all resulted in practically nothing. Where did all this collected information go? Perhaps it was also intended for some other thing than it was actually used for - we can only speculate about that. From a national point of view, these published conversations in the oligarchs' case [it can be plausibly assumed that Jurašs also organized the publication of these conversations - author] did great harm to Latvia, because Latvia was seen as a very corrupt country where all public officials are bribed and can be bribed."
Asked what his opinion was on Jurašs' moral principles, what Jurašs' real goals might have been in going to Ukraine as a consultant on the flow of military-operational information, Leitietis replied: "As for Jurašs' moral principles, it is difficult for me to assess them. There is no point in talking about morality here, because the sheer calculation is clear, namely that his political force has poll ratings below five percent and must be driven up by whatever means. Perhaps that is why all sorts of statements are coming from them - not only from Jurašs, but also from Bordāns, that now is the time to demolish the Victory Monument in Pārdaugava and so on. They have thus gone from being conservatives to being very big radicals. Perhaps Jurašs also sees himself gaining some concrete benefits from this visit to Ukraine. But these are just my assumptions. I would, however, be very, very skeptical about Jurašs' great patriotism. I say this because I have carefully analyzed his political activities, including his activities in the field of the defense of the internal security of our country."