The purpose of the article is to consider the problems of self-perception and perception of life chances of the Russian ethnic minority in the context of the national security of Latvia. The concept of the humanitarian aspects of national security in Latvia is based on the normative understanding of the Latvian nation, the goals and objectives of nation building. In the situation of complex ethnic composition, the leading political forces of the country associate the guarantee of national security with the formation of a single national identity, which implies a subordinate position of the identity of ethnic minorities in relation to the identity of Latvians. At the same time, Latvian legislation contains norms on guaranteeing the equality of people regardless of their ethnic origin. Thus, the subordination of the identity of ethnic minorities in relation to the identity of ethnic Latvians should not lead to the subordination of the life chances of the ethnic majority and ethnic minorities. At the same time, the materials of a sociological study show that Russian youth perceive fewer opportunities for their life chances than they see among ethnic Latvians, which indicates a significant degree of insecurity among this groups of society.