Criminal threats in Latvia raised by Russian aggression in Ukraine

On 24 February 2022, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine escalated into a broader armed invasion of the Ukrainian territory and a subsequent protracted war. This event significantly impacted various social, political, legal and other processes worldwide. This global upheaval not only influenced international processes but also had an impact on various national-level processes, including the introduction of changes within the spectrum of criminal threats. Upon realising the extent of interests being criminally violated, the author of the research chose to narrow the research focus exclusively to the Latvian level. Moreover, the range of interests violated at the Latvian level can be quite extensive, as the commission of any criminal offence outlined in the Criminal Law can be indirectly linked to the war in Ukraine. With this in mind, the study aims to identify the criminal threats in Latvia stemming from Russia’s aggression in Ukraine by analysing statistical indicators of registered criminal offences, the activities of lawmakers in the development of criminal law norms and case law in situations where Ukraine is mentioned in the description of the alleged criminal offence.