The former head of the Latvian Interior Ministry and the new president of Latvia, Edgars Rinkevics, tweeted that the country is stopping issuing all types of visas to Russians, including humanitarian ones, «due to the events in Russia.»
At the same time, the Latvian Foreign Ministry later explained to Delfi that Rinkevich had in mind only those who want to enter Latvia or obtain its visa «in the context» of Yevgeny Prigozhin's rebellion.
Restrictions, established on September 19, 2022, will remain, said Rinkevich — then Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia banned Russian citizens from entering their territory on Schengen visas.
On the evening of June 23, the owner of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, accused the Russian Ministry of Defense of a missile attack on the «rear camps» of mercenaries. After that, according to him, it was decided to stop «the evil that the military leadership of the country bears.» On the same evening, the FSB opened a criminal case against Prigozhin for a military mutiny.
On the morning of June 24, Prigozhin announced that his people had occupied all military installations in Rostov-on-Don, including the airfield and the headquarters of the Southern Military District. The latter reports skirmishes between rebels and units of the regular army. The Don, Ural and Krym federal highways have been blocked, and a counter-terrorist operation regime has been introduced for the first time in Moscow and the Moscow region. Mediazona is online.
Updated at 16:24: Initially, Rinkevich's statement about the abolition of all visas was quoted in the news, an explanation was added from representatives of the Latvian Foreign Ministry, in connection with which the title was updated.