Media Reports: Russian Militants From The "Black Rus" Group Attacked Latvia On The Border With Belarus

Details of the brazen provocation have come to light.

An incident at the Belarusian-Latvian border on October 6, when armed, masked men escorted a group of at least 20 migrants across the border into Latvia, caused a major stir. This was all the more so because these armed men—who, as it turned out, belonged to the Russian paramilitary group “Black Rus”—subsequently entered Latvian territory after damaging border equipment. Latvia now plans to amend its legislation to allow border guards to fire on armed attackers.

A reporter from “Radye Racyja” Vladimir Laptskevich speaks with Ukrainian military journalist Viktor.

— This incident, which occurred this week on the Latvian-Belarusian border, involved armed, masked men who attempted—and, incidentally, succeeded—in crossing the border and damaging border equipment. Foreign Minister Andrei Sibiga claims that Moscow is behind this incident. Are his claims justified? Do you agree with them?

— I would say that this event, which took place on the border with Latvia, has a fairly systematic chain reaction. We know that such incidents have occurred before—both on the Polish border and the Lithuanian border. But for a group of 20 people to break through the border like this, knowing that armed border guards are there—it looks far too conspicuous and public.

The fact is that the very next day, the paramilitary group “Black Rus” claimed responsibility for this incident. We have been monitoring this group and continue to do so. I want to point out that this group had not previously been present in the Belarusian information space. But its activity increased in September of this year, coinciding with incidents in the border regions. And I want to note that it is telling that the domain for the so-called “Black Rus” website was registered back in 2014 and is hosted by the Russian hosting provider “Reg.ru.”

These paramilitarists are calling for closer ties between Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia under the slogan of shared roots or the fight against an aggressive West. But we’ve seen similar provocations since 2021, when migrants violently stormed the “Kuznica–Bruzgi” border crossing on the Polish border. Then, in 2023, a Belarusian helicopter flew into Polish territory near Białowieża during military exercises. Later, in 2023–2024, Russian intelligence services on the Belarusian border with Ukraine constantly provoked Ukrainian border guards with propaganda posters and audio recordings. Similar incidents occurred on the Lithuanian border as well.

And I want to say that these 20 people who crossed the Latvian border, according to our information, are members of the intelligence services who will subsequently be infiltrated into the Baltic states or other countries to carry out missions on orders.

— If we assume this was a deliberate test of Latvia’s response to a border violation, did the Latvian border guards handle it adequately?

— In fact, following the incidents since 2021—which have been occurring consistently along the borders of the Baltic states and the border with Poland—the countries have, in principle, deployed their troops to the border. And these incidents took place in accordance with the laws of the countries into which the so-called illegal immigrants were attempting to enter.

In this way, the intelligence services are testing the border’s weak spots and determining how the military and political leadership of a given state will react. That is why I want to say that in the future, the Baltic states will strengthen their borders and prepare for the fact that CSTO exercises will soon begin again in Belarus.

— You’ve already mentioned the CSTO exercises “Unbreakable Brotherhood—2026,” which will begin on the 12th and end on October 16. Are these exercises in any way connected to the incident on the Latvian-Belarusian border?

— Here again, a pattern emerges of a sequence of actions by Russian special services, dating back to 2025, when units equipped with “Oreshnik” missile systems took up combat duty in Belarus. And as early as November 2025, the commander of Belarus’s radiological, chemical, and biological defense forces stated that exercises involving these special forces would take place in 2026.

Question: Why will these troops participate in such exercises? This is a rhetorical question, because there is information from our intelligence services and from open sources indicating that Russian aviation, as well as unmanned aerial vehicle units, will take part in these exercises.

It is clear that these forces, which will be deployed during the exercises, have experience fighting in the war against Ukraine. Therefore, they will demonstrate this experience during these exercises. At the same time, however, I believe NATO countries will be closely monitoring what happens during the exercises.

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