Latvia stops accepting visa applications of all kinds from Russian citizens

RIGA - Due to a highly unpredictable situation in Russia, as of Monday, June 26, Latvian diplomatic and consular missions abroad stopped accepting visa applications of all kinds from Russian citizens, LETA was told at the Foreign Ministry. 

The processing of visa applications that have been submitted and accepted by the Latvian  diplomatic and consular missions before June 26 will be completed. 

As reported, Wagner, a private mercenary army led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, staged a brief mutiny last weekend. Wagner mercenaries took control of the military bases in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and threatened to march on Moscow to overthrow the country's military leadership.

However, on Saturday night, Prigozhin announced a retreat and his forces left the taken positions. The Kremlin later announced that Prigozhin would leave for Belarus and that the criminal investigation against him would be dropped.

The incident is seen as one of the biggest challenges to Russian President Vladimir Putin's long rule and the most serious security crisis in the country since he came to power in 1999.