{"id":31044,"date":"2026-09-26T14:14:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T11:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/?p=31044"},"modified":"2026-09-26T14:14:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T11:14:07","slug":"latvia-border-surveillance-damage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/world\/latvia-border-surveillance-damage\/","title":{"rendered":"Sabotage at the Latvian border: cameras, cables and equipment damaged"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"news-lead\">On Latvia\u2019s eastern border, unknown individuals have deliberately damaged a new automated surveillance system being deployed along the border sections with Russia and Belarus. The Border Guard Service believes the actions were intended to disrupt border controls and the commissioning of the technology. The equipment is being repaired, and, according to the agency, construction of the system is proceeding on schedule.<\/p>\n<div class=\"news-summary-box\">\n<p><strong>Briefly about the main points<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cables, distribution boxes, CCTV cameras and poles have been damaged.<\/li>\n<li>Border guards believe the incidents were deliberate, rather than random acts of vandalism.<\/li>\n<li>The perpetrators of the damage have not been publicly identified, nor has any link between them and the authorities in neighbouring countries been established.<\/li>\n<li>On the Belarusian route, more than 72% units in the first phase have already been fitted with the technology.<\/li>\n<li>Since the start of the year, Latvia has prevented 11,384 attempts to cross the border illegally from Belarus.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Which system components were affected?<\/h2>\n<p>On 24 September, the Latvian State Border Guard reported that cables had been cut and that distribution boxes, CCTV equipment and CCTV poles had been damaged. This infrastructure forms part of the automated border surveillance project.<\/p>\n<p>The system encompasses CCTV, power supply and data transmission networks, cable ducts and perimeter control measures. Software utilising artificial intelligence, computer vision and sensors is also being developed for the system. Its purpose is to detect breaches of the EU\u2019s external border more quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Apart from deliberate acts, some of the border infrastructure has been damaged by recent severe storms. The Latvian border service distinguishes between the effects of bad weather and deliberate interference.<\/p>\n<h2>The border guards\u2019 assessment and the established boundary<\/h2>\n<p>The Head of the State Border Guard Service, General <strong>Guntis Pujunts<\/strong> stated that the deliberate damage to CCTV equipment and cables was not a case of random vandalism. According to him, the actions were intended to hinder border surveillance and delay the introduction of new technologies.<\/p>\n<p>The agency links the incidents to targeted <a href=\"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/world\/analityk-u-kremlja-ye-kilka-stsenariyiv\/\">provocations<\/a>, which, in his view, are supported by the aggressor state. At the same time, no specific perpetrators were named publicly, nor was any evidence of a direct order from the Russian or Belarusian authorities made public.<\/p>\n<h2>Construction is continuing on the Belarusian and Russian fronts<\/h2>\n<p>On the Latvian\u2013Belarusian border, 81.7 km of the first phase \u2014 more than 72% of its total length \u2014 has been fitted with the necessary technology. In the second phase, 19.9 km of infrastructure has already been commissioned; on the remaining section, the actual works have been completed and the approval of the as-built documentation is underway.<\/p>\n<p>In the third quarter, 28% of the planned technical infrastructure for the fifth phase was completed along one section of the border with Russia. The Border Guard Service attributed the complexity of the work to the specific characteristics of the soil and terrain.<\/p>\n<p>The total cost of the project is around \u20ac95.96 million: approximately \u20ac71.97 million is provided by the European fund, with the remainder coming from the Latvian budget. Damaged equipment is being repaired promptly; the ministry states that the implementation schedule remains unchanged.<\/p>\n<h2>The context of migratory pressure from Belarus<\/h2>\n<p>On 24 September, Latvian border guards stopped 24 people who were attempting to enter the country illegally from Belarusian territory. Since the start of 2026, the service has thwarted 11,384 such attempts.<\/p>\n<p>The Latvian authorities describe the migratory pressure from Belarus as a threat to the external borders of the EU and NATO. Enhanced security measures in border areas have been extended until 31 December 2026; border guards are being assisted by the police and the armed forces.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Latvia is restoring its surveillance system following deliberate acts of vandalism along sections of its border with Russia and Belarus.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":207433346,"featured_media":31043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_description":"\u041b\u0430\u0442\u0432\u0456\u044f \u0432\u0456\u0434\u043d\u043e\u0432\u043b\u044e\u0454 \u043e\u0431\u043b\u0430\u0434\u043d\u0430\u043d\u043d\u044f \u0441\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0435\u043c\u0438 \u0441\u043f\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0436\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044f \u043f\u0456\u0441\u043b\u044f \u0443\u043c\u0438\u0441\u043d\u0438\u0445 \u043f\u043e\u0448\u043a\u043e\u0434\u0436\u0435\u043d\u044c \u043d\u0430 \u0434\u0456\u043b\u044f\u043d\u043a\u0430\u0445 \u043a\u043e\u0440\u0434\u043e\u043d\u0443 \u0437 \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0456\u0454\u044e \u0442\u0430 \u0411\u0456\u043b\u043e\u0440\u0443\u0441\u0441\u044e.","rank_math_title":"\u041b\u0430\u0442\u0432\u0456\u044f \u0437\u0430\u044f\u0432\u0438\u043b\u0430 \u043f\u0440\u043e \u0446\u0456\u043b\u0435\u0441\u043f\u0440\u044f\u043c\u043e\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0435 \u043f\u043e\u0448\u043a\u043e\u0434\u0436\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044f \u043a\u043e\u0440\u0434\u043e\u043d\u0443","rank_math_focus_keyword":"\u041b\u0430\u0442\u0432\u0456\u044f","td_subtitle":"","subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[805619],"tags":[805624],"class_list":["post-31044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-805624"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207433346"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31044"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31045,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31044\/revisions\/31045"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}