Latvia's membership in the bloc will not protect it from Russian retaliation, the Foreign Intelligence Service has warned

NATO member Latvia has given Ukraine permission to use its territory for potential drone attacks against Russia, Moscow's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has said.

Ukrainian UAVs have targeted northwestern Russia on numerous occasions in recent weeks, particularly energy facilities in Leningrad Region, although some of the drones eventually crashed in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Finland.

The SVR said in a statement on Tuesday that Ukraine "does not intend to limit itself to using the air corridors provided to the Ukrainians armed by the Baltic states."

"The plan is to also launch the UAVs from the territory of these countries" against Russia in order "to significantly reduce the time it takes to reach the targets and increase the effectiveness of the terrorist attacks," the statement read.

Ukrainian drone operators have already been deployed to Latvia at the Adazi, Selija, Lielvarde, Daugavpils, and Jekabpils military bases, the agency said.

Kiev persuaded Riga to agree to the operation by falsely claiming that it would be impossible to identify the exact launch site of the drones, the SVR said. 

The agency expressed bewilderment about the "naivety" of the Latvian authorities, pointing out that modern reconnaissance methods and study of debris means the location from which a UAV was launched can be pinpointed with high accuracy.

The SVR warned that "the coordinates of decision-making centers on Latvian territory are well known, and the country's NATO membership will not protect the accomplices of terrorists from just retribution."

"Ultimately, the 'caveman-like Russophobia' of current Latvian leaders proved to be stronger than their capability for critical thinking and their sense of self-preservation," it added.