Russia May Maintain Military Readiness Post-Ukraine War, Says Latvia Spy Head

Russia will continue to militarise its economy even after the Ukraine crisis is resolved, according to the chief of Latvia’s intelligence service, who made this claim at the Munich Security Conference.The way the war ends, whether it is stopped, and whether sanctions are lifted are some of the criteria that will decide Russia’s future aggression following the conflict in Ukraine, Egils Zviedris, director of the Latvian intelligence agency SAB, told AFP.

Sanctions and Military Expansion Concerns in Latvia

Some experts claim that because Russia has fully embraced a war economy and mobilised its military, it is impossible to change its mind and may be forced to launch further offensives against European lands.

According to Zviedris, removing the current restrictions “would allow Russia to develop its military capacities” faster.

But he asserted that “Russia does not pose a military threat to Latvia at the moment” despite acknowledging Russia’s military preparations to attack Latvia and its Baltic neighbours.Zviedris told AFP, “Russia is not necessarily going to attack the Baltics just because it is getting ready to do so, as it does for a lot of other reasons.

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But according to the group he leads, Moscow poses a number of hazards to the nation, including cyberattacks.

Cyber Threats to Latvia Have Increased Since 2022

Due to Russia’s larger strategic goals and Latvia’s steadfast support for Ukraine, the SAB recently stated in its 2025 annual report that Russia poses the biggest cyber threat to Latvia.

According to the study, the threat has “considerably increased” after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Russia’s Legal and Political Pressure on Latvia

Additionally, the agency warned that Russia is trying to take advantage of the apparent unhappiness of the Russian-speaking populations in the Baltics, particularly in Latvia.

Regarding the rights of their Russian-speaking minority, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is reportedly getting ready to bring a complaint against Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia before the UN International Court of Justice.The report claims that the litigation aims to defame Latvia internationally and exert sustained pressure on it to change its stance toward Russia and the Russian-speaking community.

In 2025, almost 23 percent of Latvia’s 1.8 million citizens would identify as Russian, according to the official statistics agency.

In the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Latvian authorities planned to have Russian speakers residing in the nation take a test to gauge their proficiency in Latvian, with those who did not pass perhaps being deported.