Latvian Citizen Sentenced to Prison for Fighting Against Ukraine
On Tuesday, 29 April, a Latvian man was sentenced to imprisonment for participating in hostilities in Ukraine on the side of Russian troops.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to LRT.
A Latvian citizen was sentenced to six years in prison and two years of probation for participating in hostilities on the side of Russia against Ukraine. The Riga City Court made the decision after approving a plea agreement between the defendant and the prosecutor.
According to the prosecutor's office, in 2023, the man joined the Russian army and was sent to Chelyabinsk, where he served in an artillery unit of the 80th Tank Regiment.
Later, he was sent to the frontline in Donetsk region, where he was engaged in the construction of defensive fortifications, territory protection and underwent tactical and marksmanship training.
The man was detained on 7 October 2023 in a border village when he tried to illegally return to Latvia from Russia. In court, the man fully admitted his guilt.
His actions were classified as a violation of Latvia's national security law, which prohibits service in the armed forces of foreign countries without a permit.
In early January, it was reported that Serbian mercenary Bratislav Živković, who was declared persona non grata in Romania in 2017 for spying for Russia, was killed during the fighting in the Kursk region.
As The Gaze reported earlier, Latvia has recently delivered another batch of 1,500 combat drones to Ukraine as part of its ongoing support in the international coalition for drone assistance.