The Riga City Court will continue the consideration of the criminal case on July 23 at 14:00, in which four citizens of Latvia are accused of committing harmful actions at the behest of Russian special services.
The accused are Karina Ivanova, Konstantin Shiryayev, Konstantin Yakubovsky, and Denis Lukanenok.
As previously reported by Latvian television, Ivanova and Lukanenok are accused of setting fire to a tent hangar owned by one of the companies. In addition, they conducted reconnaissance of other sites for possible arsons.
Shiryayev is accused of aiding criminal activity, as he assisted the perpetrators as a driver. Yakubovsky, in turn, is accused of inciting arson.
According to the indictment, one of the accused, serving a sentence in prison for illegal drug trafficking, incited harmful actions and sought out direct perpetrators.
The second accused is charged with complicity in the crime — he transported the perpetrators to the site of the alleged sabotage actions in his car and also helped them leave the crime scene.
Two other citizens of Latvia are accused of assisting Russia in activities directed against the security of Latvia, carried out by a group of individuals, as well as intentionally damaging someone else's property.
Before the case was transferred to the prosecutor's office, the investigation was conducted by the State Security Service of Latvia (VDD).
The criminal process was initiated on June 10, 2024. During the investigation, it was established that at the initiative of the Russian special services, a group of individuals was formed with the aim of committing particularly serious crimes against the Latvian state.
The group members were engaged in planning, organizing, and carrying out sabotage against various targets in Latvia, using arson. In the spring of last year, the VDD detained three participants, while the fourth was already in places of deprivation of liberty for another crime.
The collected evidence indicates that in the fall of 2023, the accused planned and committed an intentional arson of a private company’s facility, as this company was involved in a project related to the defense sector.
In addition, in early 2024, they conducted preparatory actions for setting fire to a truck with Ukrainian license plates on the territory of a critical infrastructure site. For this purpose, they studied the area, filmed the surroundings of the site, and possible access routes.
The investigation also established that the suspects conducted reconnaissance of several other potential targets for sabotage, photographing and filming them, after which they sent the materials to the organizers in Russia. To prevent possible attacks, the VDD implemented a wide range of preventive measures.
All four had previously been convicted of various criminal offenses, but had not previously been on the VDD's radar.
According to the investigation data, the main motive for the accused's participation in the organization and implementation of sabotage activities was financial gain.
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