The authorities of Latvia, a Baltic country and neighbor of Russia, called on their citizens to turn the basements of their houses into air raid shelters, on the occasion of the country’s traditional national cleaning day which was on Saturday.
Latvia, a former republic of the Soviet Union and now a member of NATO and the European Union, shares a 214km border with Russia, prompting fears in Riga that the country could be among Moscow’s first targets in the event of a victory in Ukraine.
“We urge everyone, during and after the big cleanup, to make sure your basements can serve as emergency shelters,” said Riga Mayor Vilnis Kirsis.
In the meantime, “municipal employees will take care of city-owned basements,” he said in a statement.
For his part, Gijs Rainsons, head of the civil protection committee of the Latvian capital, said that “the basements of public buildings, schools, nursing homes, hospitals and town halls will be checked by the authorities who will prepare them to people hide in them, in case of attack”.
“We intend to prepare about a hundred bomb shelters every month until the end of the year,” he told the TV24 network.
In March, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina warned of the risk of unpredictable actions from Russia, which she compared at this juncture to “an alcoholic or a drug addict.”
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