In Latvia, at least three people associated with the "Antifascists of the Baltics" group, which created a network of informants for Russian special services, have been detained in the past two weeks.
This is reported by the Latvian media LSM.
An association called "Antifascists of the Baltics" tried to gain access to drone manufacturing companies in Latvia, they recorded the movement of military equipment, and also collected information about people who support Ukraine — in particular, making donations or using Ukrainian symbols.
The Latvian State Security Service opened criminal proceedings against this group back in November 2022. Two members are currently on trial in a Latvian court — Tetyana Andriets and Oleksandr Zhhun. Meanwhile, Sergey Vasiliev, who positions himself as a leader, as well as Viktoriya Matule, Roman Samul, and Stanislav Bukains, have left for Russia or Belarus.
The groupʼs key goal was to recruit as many people as possible who were disloyal to the Latvian state. The plan was to use these people to organize riots and actions against government officials or citizens who opposed Russia.
Among those detained was a store security guard, Igor Andreev, who was taking photos of people with Ukrainian symbols, passing on their personal data and car license plates. When journalists tried to talk to him, the man attacked the film crew, broke the camera, and fled, but was later detained by the police. The court chose a preventive measure — arrest.
Another of the suspects Vasiliev passed information from the groupʼs Telegram channel to Sergei Kolesnikov, who is linked to Russian special services. Formally, Kolesnikov is a former FSB employee and heads a private detective agency, but the published materials indicate his continued cooperation with Russian security agencies.
Police also detained Vasilievʼs wife Iveta Balode. According to the documents, she also provided information about the movement of military equipment and regularly traveled from Latvia to Russia. The defendants now face life imprisonment or 10 to 20 years in prison.
- In October, the Latvian State Security Service asked the prosecutorʼs office to open a criminal case against four people suspected of preparing sabotage on behalf of the Russian Federation. Three suspects were detained in the spring of 2025, while the fourth was already in prison for another crime.
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