Russia has closed several railway checkpoints on the borders with Finland, Estonia, and Latvia as of 1 July 2026, The Baltic Times reports. The official notice indicated no end date or reason for the closure. The order applies to the Lyttä, Värtsilä, and Svetogorsk (Enso) checkpoints on Russia’s border with Finland, the Pechory (Petseri) checkpoint…
A Lithuanian volunteer, Ignas Kailius, was confirmed to have been killed during a combat mission in southern Ukraine in June 2026, LRT reported. He had served in a mostly Brazilian and Colombian unit. Kailius, who was 25 years old, had arrived in Ukraine in February 2026, BNS reported. In Lithuania, he had played for the…
Russia may be planning provocations against the Baltic States or Poland to pressure NATO countries into stopping support for Ukraine, Fox News reports. Latvian intelligence said that there were “indications” that Russia was preparing “military provocations” against the Baltic States or Poland. Russia could launch hybrid attacks using missiles, drones, or other actions, but the…
Lithuania has offered to mediate in an escalating diplomatic dispute between Poland and Ukraine related to the history of the Second World War, BNS reported. Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renamed a military unit in honour of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which was associated with the massacres of up to 100,000 Polish civilians during…
Two pro-Russian activists facing criminal liability in Latvia and Lithuania, Aleksejs Roslikovs and Antanas Kandrotas, have fled to neighbouring Belarus, LRT reports. Roslikovs, a former member of the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, and former member of the Riga city council representing the pro-Russian For Stability party, has been charged in Latvia with incitement of national…
French fighter jets within NATO’s Baltic air-policing mission shot down a drone in eastern Latvia in the morning of 8 June 2026, the Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS) announced, LSM reports. NBS said that the drone entered Latvian airspace due to Russian “electromagnetic warfare,” TVNET reported. Eyewitness said that the incident occurred near the village…
A Lithuanian soldier serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces (ZSU) has gone missing in action, LRT reported. According to 15min, the 25-year-old Lithuanian had been taking part in a combat mission in an area that was shelled by Russian occupation forces. Reportedly, the soldier had been serving as an assistant grenade launcher since February 2026….
The three Baltic States have joined eight other European countries in calling on the EU to impose tighter restrictions on visas for Russian citizens, ERR reports. The joint letter from the foreign and interior ministers of nine EU member states, Norway, and Iceland stated that “Russians should not be sunning themselves on European beaches while…
Latvia’s security situation has not improved and has become more complex, President Edgars Rinkevics stated, LETA reports. Speaking in an interview on TV24, Rinkevics warned that Russia was becoming more unpredictable and that Latvia must be prepared to respond to various kinds of Russian provocations. At the same time, he noted that the threat posed…