On February 24, criminal proceedings were launched against the Estonian citizen and Ukrainian citizens under the espionage section of Latvia's Criminal Law, which addresses the collection of undisclosed information with the intention to transfer it to a foreign state or foreign organization directly or through another person, LSM reported.

In the course of their detention, Latvian authorities seized five mobile phones, four drones, two cameras and one flash drive from the two individuals, the VDD confirmed.

Likewise seized was a trail camera installed for the monitoring of a critical infrastructure site.

The VDD noted that the two individuals in question had already been previously detained in Estonia on February 12 for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles near critical infrastructure sites.

The statement does not clarify, however, whether Estonia had released them or handed them over to Latvia.

One of the detainees had been warned in Latvia last year already that it was forbidden to photograph critical infrastructure without a permit.

Both suspects have been taken into custody.

According to Delfi's information (link in Estonian), the arrested Estonian citizen is railway enthusiast and photographer Matthias Rikka.

The VDD has not commented on which country the two suspects were allegedly spying for.

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