Latvia’s State Security Service (VDD), in cooperation with the prosecutor’s office, has uncovered an agent network operating through the Telegram channel and group ‘Antifascists of the Baltic States.’ Over the past two weeks, at least three people have been suspected of collecting and transmitting intelligence for the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).
According to the investigation, members of the network systematically collected information on:
the movement of NATO and Latvian armed forces military equipment;
the location and activities of Ukrainians and supporters of Ukraine in Latvia;
people who make donations to Ukraine or use Ukrainian symbols;
attempts to infiltrate drone manufacturing companies in Latvia.
The group’s members compiled lists of individuals who, according to their supervisors, were to be ‘eliminated’ in the event of an escalation. According to prosecutor Zane Lodzini, the group’s main goal was to form a circle of individuals disloyal to Latvia in order to destabilise the situation, organise unrest and undermine the democratic order in the country.
The network operated through closed chats on Telegram and recruited mainly Russian-speaking residents of Latvia, including ordinary citizens without access to classified information, from shop security guards to taxi drivers.
The investigation is ongoing.