Latvian embassy in Moscow "attacked"

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Latvia's embassy in Moscow, Russia, came under attack on the evening of May 9 - celebrated in the country as 'Victory Day' - according to Latvia's Foreign Minister.

He said on social media he "strongly condemns" the incident and added that two persons had been detained without giving further details.

 

A second tweet, in Latvian, said "Such provocations are not allowed, Russia should take appropriate action."

The press secretary of the Foreign Ministry, Gints Jegermanis, told Latvian Radio that nobody was injured in the incident, which took place at around 6 p.m. Moscow time.

Between 4 and 5 people appeared at the embassy's premises in Moscow and set off smoke bombs and flares. One person tried tried to write something to the embassy building, but the militia intervened at this point, Jegermanis said.

Latvia will present a diplomatic note to the Russian foreign ministry over the incident, Jegermanis added.

A video of the incident, apparently shot by the perpetrators, was posted online in Russia and shows the street outside the embassy filling with black smoke before the person doing the filming runs away.


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Later in the day Thursday, the Foreign Ministry confirmed it had presented a note - a form of diplomatic protest - to the Russian authorities via the Russian ambassador in Latvia, Yevgeny Lukyanov.
 
In the ensuing conversation, the Secretary of State Andrejs Pildegovics "pointed out the need for the Russian side to ensure fulfillment of the obligations of Article 22 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and to take all precautionary measures to prevent such attacks and to punish the perpetrators," a statement from the ministry said, adding that "unfortunately this is not the first case when the security of the Latvian diplomatic mission in Russia has been exposed to risks." 
 
 

 

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