Latvian ex‑mayor Iļja Podkolzins sentenced to five years for spying for Russia

Former Rēzekne mayor and former board member of the political party “Kopā Latvijai”, Iļja Podkolzins, was convicted of collecting and passing intelligence on Latvia’s critical transport and logistics infrastructure – including hangars at Riga Airport – as well as border facilities and military training sites to Russian intelligence services through the criminal organization “Baltic Antifascists”.

A court sentenced him to five years in prison followed by a one‑year period of probation supervision. The verdict is not yet final and can be appealed within ten days. Following the judgment he is no longer a board member of “Kopā Latvijai”.

Investigations by Latvia’s State Security Service (VDD) linked Podkolzins to contacts with Sergejs Vasiļjevs, a spokesman for the “Baltic Antifascists”, and revealed prior roles as a Daugavpils council deputy, head of the Latvian Investment and Development Agency’s representation in Russia, an economics attaché at the Latvian embassy, and work in the aviation sector. Earlier this year VDD detained four other suspected spies in a related probe.