The police have already identified several violations related to the 9th of May, said State Police Chief Armands Ruks in an interview with Latvijas Radio.
He reported that in a few cemeteries, flowers had been placed with the so-called St. George ribbons attached. In Liepāja, a five-pointed star made of candles was arranged overnight. On Facebook, some individuals also used banned symbols, Ruks added.
In a separate interview with the TV3 programme “900 sekundes”, the police chief noted that in Jaunpiebalga, the letters “Z” and “V” were written at a World War II memorial site—symbols used by the Russian occupying army in its war against Ukraine. In Riga, on Jaunciema Street, the words “the 9th of May” were painted in Russian on the pavement.
On the 8th of May, around 150 people gathered at the Salaspils Memorial for a church service. While no individual violations were recorded, Ruks explained that it is being evaluated whether the gathering was organized, which would be a potential violation, as organizing such events was prohibited by law on that date.
Several administrative violation proceedings have been initiated, but no criminal cases have been opened so far.
“Overall, nothing particularly concerning has occurred,” Ruks stated, assessing the situation as generally calm.
In the TV3 interview, Ruks also mentioned that last week there were four incidents involving desecration of the Latvian national flag. In two of those cases, criminal proceedings were initiated and suspects were detained. The police chief did not specify whether these incidents were directly related to the upcoming the 9th of May events.
As previously reported by LETA, the State Security Service (VDD), in cooperation with the State Police, is operating in heightened readiness during this period.
Ruks assured in the television interview that law enforcement will take a firm stance against those attempting to uphold Russia’s the 9th of May traditions in Latvia and will not tolerate any provocations. He added that the 9th of May also serves as a valuable training exercise for inter-agency cooperation.
Under the influence of Kremlin propaganda, part of Latvia’s population has for many years widely commemorated the 9th of May — the Soviet Victory Day — as a celebration of victory in World War II, which is a key ideological pillar of Putin’s regime. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, public celebrations at the Soviet Army monument in Pārdaugava were banned in Latvia starting in 2022, though large crowds still gathered. The monument was later dismantled in the second half of the year.
In 2023, the Latvian Parliament adopted a law banning public entertainment and celebratory events, rallies, marches, and pickets on the 9th of May that aim to undermine or threaten the values of Latvia as a democratic and national state. The ban includes actions that glorify war, military aggression, totalitarianism, or violence, and the dissemination of false historical narratives.