In Latvia, a 72-year-old spy with a Russian passport was sentenced to eight years behind bars.. The Riga District Court sentenced a former Soviet officer who, after leaving the USSR armed forces, remained to live in Latvia. Jauns reports this.
According to the prosecutor's charges, the man collected information about political processes in Latvia, critical infrastructure and military facilities in the vicinity of Riga Airport, as well as about the airport itself and repair work carried out on its territory. He also monitored the area around the 17th battalion of the Latvian National Guard.
He passed on the information received to a Russian intelligence representative who personally came to Kaliningrad. However, it was difficult for the prosecution to determine the specific amount of information provided, given that the espionage was carried out over a long period of time and the defendant conveyed the information obtained by personally traveling to Russia.
Briquettes of explosives were also found in the garage of the 72-year-old spy - one 975-gram hexogen briquette and four TNT briquettes with a total mass of 759.4 grams, as well as 136 rounds of ammunition.
For the crimes specified in the indictment, during the court debate, the prosecutor asked to sentence the man to eight years in prison and two years of probation. The court granted his request.
In 2023, it was reported that the State Security Service (SSS) of Latvia detained a Russian citizen, but without details. The criminal trial was started on December 18, 2024.
In recent years, Latvian courts have considered several criminal cases initiated on espionage in favor of Russia and Belarus. Thus, the court of first instance sentenced former Seimas deputy Janis Adamsons to eight years and six months in prison for spying for Russia..
Adamson was arraigned in the trial court on charges of four felonies, including obtaining property under false pretenses and acquiring and possessing firearms and ammunition without permission..
In the same case, Russian citizen, former KGB officer Gennady Silonov was sentenced by the court to imprisonment for seven years and six months with a probationary period of two years for espionage.
The decision has been appealed and is pending in the Riga District Court.
In another case, in the fall of 2024, the court of first instance sentenced taxi driver Sergei Sidorov to seven years in prison and two years probation for spying for Russia.
Let us recall that at the end of December in Ukraine, a Russian spy with an Israeli passport, Alexander Miroshnichenko, who collected information about the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kharkov region, was sentenced to 15 years behind bars..