Two B-1B bombers fly over Latvia on the 83rd anniversary of the Soviet invasion

@DefAviation ES 6·17·2023 · 19:39 0

On June 17, 1940, the Red Army invaded Latvia and annexed it to the USSR, an invasion made in agreement with Nazi Germany.

Latvia: tanks, IFVs and storm of fire and steel with Spanish Flags in Kadaga
Rock and shots: the Spanish soldiers and their allies display their forces in Latvia

That invasion (as well as the invasions of Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Estonia, and the Romanian region of Bessarabia) was included in the secret protocol of the pact signed by Germany and the USSR on August 23, 1939. The German invasion of the USSR in June 1941 put an end to that alliance between the Nazis and the Soviets and led to Latvia going from being occupied by the Soviets to being occupied by the Germans, a military occupation that returned to the hands of the Soviets in 1944.

The Baltic republics did not become free again until 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union. Latvia was the first of those three republics to set out to regain its independence. Since the year 2000, the Latvian people officially celebrate June 17 as "Latvijas Republikas okupācijas dienu" (Day of the occupation of the Republic of Latvia).

It should be noted that, contrary to historical facts,the Russian Federation, as the heir to the USSR, still denies today the Soviet occupation of the Baltic republics. The Kremlin propaganda outlets whitewash the Soviet invasion of the Baltic republics as follows: "Relying on left-wing political forces in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, from 1939 to 1940 the Stalinist leadership established control over these countries.". A gross manipulation.

In 1940, Latvia had no allies to come to its aid. Its most powerful ally, Poland, had been invaded by the Germans and Soviets. Today that situation has changed. The accession of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to NATO in 2004 offers these countries a guarantee of security against Russian imperialism, which continues to use the Russian minorities in those countries, installed there by the Soviets after the 1940 invasion, as an element to destabilize them, just as it has also done with Georgia, Moldova and the Ukraine.

On this 83rd anniversary of the Soviet invasion, Latvia has received the visit of two B-1B Lancer strategic bombers from the United States Air Force. The Latvian Army has published a series of photos of this flight of the B-1B over Riga. You can see them here.

American planes have flown over the Brīvības Piemineklis (Freedom Monument) in Riga, flying at low altitude.

This monument, 35 meters high, was inaugurated in 1935, when Latvia was an independent country, and although the Soviets intended to demolish it, in the end they did not dare to do so, for fear of provoking a revolt in Latvia.

The monument shows a female figure symbolizing freedom and holding up three golden stars. This monument is of great importance to the Latvian people. It was here that the mobilizations to regain independence began in 1987.

This flight of the two B-1B Lancers symbolizes NATO's support for Latvia in the face of the ambitions of Russian imperialism. As noted by Saint1, the bombers took off that same day from RAF Fairford, England, and had the radio call signs Spicy 61 and 62 (numbers 86-0105 and 86-0125, respectively). You can see here the video of its takeoff from that British base: