The Military Intelligence and Security Service (SVRB) has published the names of several officers of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia (GRU) and one officer of the Belarusian GRU, who have deployed intelligence operations against Latvia, LETA reports.
The annual threat assessment and activity report for 2025 states that the intelligence and security services of Belarus and Russia have been cooperating for a long time. In fact, Belarus conducts intelligence gathering also in the interests of Russia, and its military intelligence can be considered a "branch" of the Russian GRU.
On the part of the Russian security service, the SVRB identified Major Alexey Pyzhikov, Captain 2nd Rank Alexey Lesnikov, Captain 2nd Rank Nikolai Chetverikov, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Yushin, Colonel Alexander Gladkov, and a certain Grigory Ivanov. From the Belarusian GRU, Sergey Baranov has been identified.
The SVRB specifically highlighted the activities of the Russian GRU officer Ivanov, born in 1989, against Latvia since 2017.
Ivanov organized the collection of intelligence on private infrastructure suitable for aviation use, such as the "Spilve" airfield, the presence of NATO allied forces in the country, and various current issues in Latvia's defense sector. By requesting assistance from a distant relative in Latvia, Ivanov obtained information about sentiments in Latvian society, the aid provided to Ukraine, and critical infrastructure facilities within the country.
From the agent, Ivanov also received practical information, such as the conditions for acquiring prepaid mobile SIM cards in Latvia.
The tasks of agents managed by the Russian GRU may change depending on circumstances, taking into account the needs of the Armed Forces of Russia in the target country, including direct support for military tasks, the SVRB explains. The service emphasizes that a vivid example is the activity of the agent group managed by Ivanov in Ukraine until August 2023, when the group was identified and detained by the Security Service of Ukraine.
It has been established that agents received and transmitted data to Ivanov for airstrikes on Odessa, identified the locations of Ukraine's air defense systems and their movements, and reported on the consequences of the strikes, the SVRB reports.
The SVRB's report notes that in the event of military confrontation between the West and Russia, it is expected that the agents recruited by the GRU intelligence centers in Latvia will be used similarly to how they were in Ukraine, including creating a threat to the lives of civilians. The activities of the Russian GRU in Ukraine reflect methods that may also be applied against Latvia, the SVRB indicates. In some cases, such methods have already been used for intelligence gathering and carrying out acts of sabotage in Europe, the service explained.
The SVRB report also states that until February 2022, officers of the Russian GRU served at the Russian embassy in Latvia, who, using the cover of defense/military attaché officers, were actually engaged in collecting strategic-level intelligence.
Shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, all GRU officers who were then performing duties at the Russian embassy as representatives of the military attaché office were expelled from Latvia. At the same time, officers of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) continue to operate against Latvia and NATO countries with at least two officially declared employees, the SVRB explains.
In the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the SVRB indicated that the main task of the operational-tactical intelligence of the GRU is to provide the Armed Forces of Russia with intelligence necessary for planning and conducting military operations abroad.
In Latvia, this activity is aimed at studying the deployment of NATO forces, armaments, and combat readiness, mapping the structure and capabilities of the National Armed Forces, as well as identifying vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure and defense systems.
A significant condition for the implementation of operational-tactical intelligence by the GRU is the recruitment of agents (spies) for their involvement in intelligence gathering, as well as the search for other individuals who can potentially be involved in cooperation, the SVRB notes.
The formation of an agent network at the operational-tactical level is the responsibility of intelligence centers located in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, and Smolensk, whose employees are constantly engaged in gathering intelligence information about countries unfriendly to Russia in the region, including Latvia. The intelligence centers are particularly active in recruiting among Latvian citizens who regularly travel to Russia and Belarus, the report states.
The SVRB (Military Intelligence and Security Service / MIDD) is a state security institution under the Ministry of Defense, which conducts military counterintelligence, intelligence, and other tasks defined by the law on state security agencies and other regulatory acts. Since 2002, the head of the service has been Indulis Krekkis.
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