Abstract
Introduction This study examines how authorized institutional and survey-based records position Russian-speaking and multilingual publics in Latvia and Kazakhstan after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with particular attention to civic membership, security, and recognition. Methods We conducted a qualitative comparative document analysis of 17 records produced, published, or publicly accessible between 2022 and 2026. The Latvian corpus includes materials from the public-service broadcaster LSM/LSM+, the media regulator NEPLP, and the State Security Service VDD. The Kazakhstan corpus includes Qazinform, DEMOSCOPE surveys, and KazISS policy essays. The cases are treated as a focused comparative contrast between two post-Soviet multilingual settings exposed to Russian communicative pressure but embedded in different geopolitical and institutional contexts. Results The analysis identifies two ideal-typical governance regimes. Latvia displays securitized democratic inclusion: Russian-speaking publics are served through public-service alternatives, while parts of the Russian-language media environment are governed through security and information-defense frames. Kazakhstan displays managed multilingual sovereignty: Russian remains a language of reach, Kazakh is recentered as a language of statehood and dignity, and official discourse distances the state from Russian revisionism through sovereignty and territorial-integrity norms rather than by securitizing Russian-speaking citizens. Discussion Multilingual governance can draw membership boundaries through language hierarchy, threat coding, and unequal recognition even without explicit legal exclusion.