LTV: Pro-Kremlin activist detained by security service

"We can confirm that the State Security Service today, December 17, carried out criminal procedural actions at two facilities in Jelgava, as well as detained one person as part of the criminal proceedings," the VDD stated, though in line with standard practice it did not name the person concerned. It did not give any reason why the searches had taken place, nor suggest what form of law-breaking was suspected.

However, LTV's sources suggest that the detainee is Viktors Guščins, who has long been positioned among the most obviously pro-Russian activists in the country, particularly with regard to Russia's so-called "compatriot policy", in which it claims the right to represent ethnic Russians worldwide regardless of whether they are Russian citizens or not.

Guščins ran for office in the 12th and 13th Saeima elections from the list of the Latvian Russian Union, but was never elected. He has worked as a lecturer and published books on history and various publications that push Kremlin narratives such as the supposed revival of Nazism in Latvia and discrimination against people of Russian ethnicity. He has continued these activities, as well as attended events organized by Russia, even after the aggressor country's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.