On 23 September 2025, Latvian State Security Service (VDD) conducted the national level counterterrorism exercise "Dinaburg 2025" in Daugavpils.
More than 500 participants from different institutions took part in exercises that closely replicated the conditions of real-life situations to test their response measures and mutual cooperation in the event of terrorist threat and hostage crisis.
It was the first time that a full-scale counterterrorism exercise was organised in Latgale, continuing the training cycle started in the previous years, whose goal is to determine the readiness of the competent services and their mutual cooperation in different Latvian regions.
According to the plan of the exercise, armed terrorists had taken over a concert hall, taking a part of the concert attendees hostage. Meanwhile, the organisers of the terrorist attack had set up a hideout at another building in Daugavpils. During the course of the exercise, the responsible services tested their abilities to triage persons discovered on site, detain terrorists, rescue hostages, take part in investigative activities, and participated in the implementation of other operational counterterrorism measures.
VDD has organised counterterrorism exercises with full force deployment since 2007, and this was the 14th training of such scale. Alongside VDD, participants from the State Police, State Emergency Medical Service, State Fire and Rescue Service, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Latgale Judicial Region Prosecution Office, State Border Guard, National Armed Forces (NFA), Daugavpils Municipal Police and Daugavpils City Municipality took part in the exercise. This year was the first time when representatives from the NATO Multinational Brigade in Latvia took part in this exercise, with CH-146 "Griffon" helicopters of the Royal Canadian Air Force being used. Representatives of Poland’s State Protection Service (SOP) were in attendance as international observers.
Three Latvian special operation units took part in the exercise: State Police Counterterrorism Unit OMEGA, NAF Special Task Unit and State Border Guard Special Operations Service "Sigma". The victims and hostages, meanwhile, were played by cadets of the State Border Guard College.
Within the training cycle of the regional counterterrorism exercises, VDD organised full-scale exercises in Valmiera, Vidzeme region ("Wolmar 2024") in 2024, Jelgava, Zemgale region ("Mītava 2023") in 2023, and Liepaja, Kurzeme region ("Liedags 2022") in 2022.
VDD is Latvia’s leading institution in coordinating the activities in the counterterrorism field of state and municipal institutions as well as other institutions involved in the counterterrorism prevention or response measures.
Terrorism threat level in Latvia currently is low and the information at VDD’s disposal does not indicate any changes in the near future.
Information prepared by VDD
Photos by VDD
