Two individuals convicted in Latvia for espionage for Russia, sentenced to five and six years imprisonment for gathering confidential information.

Riga City Court on June 26, 2026 convicted Svetlana Nikolajeva and taxi driver Sergejs Sidorovs for gathering confidential information for Russia, sentencing them to five and six years in prison respectively. Nikolajeva received a 5-year imprisonment sentence plus 2 years probation supervision; after deducting pre-trial detention time, she must serve 2 years and 10 months more in prison. Sidorovs was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment plus 2 years probation supervision; after deducting pre-trial detention time, he must serve 3 years and 10 months more. The court left their detention unchanged until the verdict is final. Prosecution stated the court imposed exactly the punishment it requested. Sidorovs is accused of requesting a detained person to identify other espionage suspects and later received data on three individuals. Nikolajeva allegedly received money in Russia from a relative of Sidorovs for legal fees and then passed on information about detainees. Both were charged with gathering confidential information for Russia. Sidorova is mother to Aleksandrs Dubjago, who in 2022 publicly displayed a Russian flag near an occupation monument in Riga but had the investigation against him discontinued by Latvia's State Security Service (VDD). The criminal case started on May 2, 2024, with procedural actions carried out at multiple locations in Riga by the VDD. Previously, Sidorovs was sentenced in a different espionage case to 7 years imprisonment, but that verdict is under appeal.