On October 27 2025, the Latvian State Security Service (VDD) requested that the country’s prosecutor’s office launch a criminal case against four individuals accused of carrying out malicious acts against key infrastructure in Latvia at the behest of Russian intelligence services. The investigation began on June 10 2024. Two of the four suspects are Latvian citizens; the others include one individual already in detention for a separate offence.
Details of the alleged operations
According to the VDD, the group formed under the initiative of a Russian special service, and planned and executed acts of arson and reconnaissance on Latvian territory. The files indicate that in autumn 2023 the network carried out an arson attack on a private company executing a defence-related contract, and in early 2024 scouted a critical-infrastructure site for a potential arson of a truck bearing Ukrainian licence plates. Surveillance videos and photographs of entry points and surrounding terrain were reportedly transmitted to operators in Russia.
Reactions and preventive measures
Latvia’s government has described the case as a vivid example of hybrid threats faced by Baltic states stemming from Moscow’s security operations in the region. Security services have implemented preventive actions and increased monitoring of critical-infrastructure sites. The incident arrives amid heightened vigilance by NATO and EU partners concerning sabotage, espionage and other asymmetric operations directed against member states.
Strategic and regional context
Latvia hosts the largest ethnic-Russian population among the Baltic states — 437,587 individuals as of 1 January 2024, representing 23.38 % of the national population. This demographic has been cited by Moscow in claims of persecution and is frequently leveraged in Russian diplomatic and information strategies. The broader campaign by Russia includes military drills in the Baltic region (such as Zapad‑2025 which simulated Baltic-scenario crises), cyber- and maritime-infrastructure attacks, drone incursions and information operations targeting Baltic and NATO countries.
Implications and outlook
The prosecution of the four individuals greatly illustrates the intersection of conventional security threats and hybrid tactics in the Baltic region. For Latvia and its allies the case underlines the need to bolster counter-intelligence, infrastructure resilience and rapid legal response capabilities in cooperation with the wider NATO/EU network. With Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine ongoing, the Baltic states continue to find themselves on the front line of both open and covert Russian operations.
