Latvia Arrests Russians Entering Military Base

Latvia says it has arrested two Russian activists who were caught entering a military base.

The Latvian military said on June 12 that the men carried the St. George flag of the Russian military and anti-NATO leaflets as they climbed over a wall at the Adazi military base on June 10 while training exercises between Latvian and U.S. forces were being conducted.

They were detained at the base, which is just outside the capital, Riga, and officially arrested on June 12.

The detention comes two days after a hacking incident against the Lithuanian Defense Department as tensions between Russia and the Baltic states have reached a high point since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Latvia and Estonia are home to large Russian minorities.

Latvian Defense Minister Raimonds Vejonis said the incident could be part of an information war but that the "[security] services work [well] to eliminate such provocations."

The Other Russia, a radical Russian movement set up by National Bolshevik Party founder Eduard Limonov, said the two men belong to his organization.

Based on reporting by Reuters and Interfax/BNS