Russia is lying about Ukraine's strikes on Russia from Latvia - Latvian officials

RIGA - Russia is lying about Ukraine's strikes on Russia from Latvia, senior Latvian officials have stressed on social media.

President Edgars Rinkevics has stated that Russia is lying about Latvia allowing any country to use Latvian airspace and territory to launch attacks against Russia or any other country, the president said in a post to X.

Outgoing Prime Minister Evika Solina (New Unity) explains that Russia is carrying out another disinformation campaign against Latvia, spreading the lie that Ukraine is planning to use Latvia as a launch pad for attacks on Russian territory.

"Latvia has never given Ukraine permission to use its territory or airspace for self-defense strikes against Russia or any other country," said the prime minister, stressing also that Russia was the aggressor and Ukraine had every right to defend itself.

Foreign Minister Baiba Braze (New Unity) also emphasizes that Russia is lying again and running a disinformation campaign against Latvia.

"Fact: Latvia does not provide airspace for attacks against Russia. This has been explained several times to Russian representatives," said the minister.

In the meantime, the Defense Ministry says that Latvia is not involved in planning and executing Ukraine's counterattacks on Russia. The Baltic countries support Ukraine by supplying military equipment, humanitarian assistance, and financial aid, while emphasizing that Ukraine has the legitimate right to defend itself against Russia's full-scale invasion.

Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed on Tuesday that Ukraine was preparing strikes on Russia from the territory of the Baltic countries and that Ukrainian soldiers had already been deployed to Latvia.

The SVR claims that the Ukrainian authorities have allegedly managed to persuade Riga to agree to operations against Russia and that Ukrainian UAV teams have already been sent to Latvia.

The SVR mentions five Latvian army bases - Adazi, Selija, Lielvarde, Daugavpils and Jekabpils - where Ukrainian soldiers are allegedly stationed.

The SVR also threatens Latvia with "just revenge", which NATO membership will not save it from.

Later on Tuesday, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's press secretary Heorhii Tykhyi confirmed on the X platform that the Russian SVR's claims were false, describing them as a continuation of Moscow's broader propaganda campaign aimed at destabilizing public opinion in Latvia and the wider Baltics.

"There is no truth in Moscow's latest set of falsehoods accusing Ukraine of preparing attacks against Russia from the territory of Latvia. We officially refute them," the ministry's spokesman said.

"Ukraine does not use the territory or airspace of Latvia in its operations against Russia and does not intend to do so," said Tykhyi.