According to information at the disposal of Latvian Television, the person is military attaché of the Russian Federation, Ruslan Ushakov. As LSM reported earlier in April, Ushakov was rebuked after being caught throwing a party disrespecting Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
The Czech authorities announced early in the week that they were expelling 18 Russian diplomats over possible links to a 2014 explosion at a weapons factory. Moscow reacted to this by expelling 20 Czech diplomats in turn.
The decision of Latvia is also based on mutual consultations with the EU and NATO allies and information provided by the responsible Latvian authorities.
In solidarity with our Czech allies and due to the violations of Vienna Convention #Latvia has decided to expel a Russian diplomat. Latvia will not tolerate subversive activities on its soil or that of its partners and allies
— Edgars Rinkēvičs (@edgarsrinkevics) April 23, 2021
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“Latvia is interested in developing relations with Russia on the basis of mutual respect, international law and the principles set out in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Russia's actions have long shown systemic violations of such principles and deteriorating security,” quotes the release by Foreign Ministry.
