A brawl involving British troops in Latvia 'was set up by Russia as part of a propaganda bid to smear UK forces'

Army is investigating claims two soldiers were targeted by a gang in Latvia[CN]

军队正在调查这样一个声明：两名战士被证实参与到拉脱维亚的斗殴事件当中。

They had been in the Baltic nation as part of a two-week training exercise [CN]

他们在波罗的海地区进行为期两周的军事训练。

Pair from Grenadier Guards were caught up in a brawl in the capital Riga [CN]

两名手雷兵被抓到在首都里加参与斗殴。

Incident was captured on camera and allegedly given to Russian media[CN]

事件被摄像机拍了下来，随即立刻送往俄国媒体。

Sources say the attack could be a plot to portray British troops as hooligans
[CN]

有消息称，该次袭击是一场阴谋，旨在描画英国的“流氓”形象。

The Army is investigating claims British troops in Latvia were involved in brawl as part of a plot by Russia to smear UK forces. Pictured are British troops taking part in a training exercise in Latvia on Monday[CN]

军队正在调查这样一个声明，英国军队在拉脱维亚陷入斗殴丑闻，实则是俄国抹黑英国军队的阴谋。图为英国军队周一参加拉脱维亚的军事训练。

It has been reported that two soldiers with the Grenadier Guards were targeted with violence by a local gang as they ate at a McDonalds restaurant in the Latvian capital Riga, pictured[CN]

据报道，手雷兵卫队的两名战士被撞见暴力火拼当地黑帮团伙。如图，这事是他们在拉脱维亚首都里加吃麦当劳时发生的。

News of the brawl comes as Britain is sending tanks, drones and 800 troops to neighbouring Estonia as part of the biggest military build-up on Russia's borders since the Cold War. Pictured are British troops in Latvia on Monday
[CN]

自冷战以来，英国军队派出坦克，无人机和800士兵到爱沙尼亚附近，在俄国的边界搞最大的军事建设，就常有（地方）冲突的新闻传出。图为周一英国军队驻扎拉脱维亚图。

Soldiers of all nationalities gather at the Adazi military training ground in Latvia. Troops from Baltic states as well as the UK, US, Canada and Germany are taking part in the exercise[CN]

所有国籍的士兵聚集在拉脱维亚的Adazi军事训练基地。

The Army is investigating claims British troops in Latvia were involved in brawl as part of a plot by Russia to smear UK forces.

Soldiers have been in the Baltic nation for a two-week training exercise, which comes amid heightened tensions between the West and Russia.

However, it has been reported that two soldiers with the Grenadier Guards were targeted with violence by a local gang as they ate at a McDonalds restaurant in the Latvian capital Riga.

According to the Telegraph, the brawl was captured on camera and when the fighting finished, a Latvian accompanying the two British servicemen followed the film crew and saw them go to a media outlet known to be pro-Russian.

And a source says the reported attack could be have been part of an attempt to portray British troops as hooligans in Russia.

She said: 'We are aware of an incident involving two soldiers in Riga.

'The circumstances are being investigated and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.'

News of the brawl comes as Britain is sending tanks, drones and 800 troops to neighbouring Estonia as part of the biggest military build-up on Russia's borders since the Cold War.

The soldiers will be sent to the Eastern European country and will be joined by forces from Denmark and France, according to Defence Secretary Michael Fallon.

Meanwhile earlier this week, the head of MI5 warned that Russia’s increasingly aggressive behaviour is a threat to the stability of the UK.

Andrew Parker, the director general of the home intelligence service, gave the first interview by a serving spy chief in 107 years, and took aim at Moscow for escalating tensions at a time when the West was fighting Islamist extremists.

He told the Guardian that Russia had plenty of spies still working in Britain but that the difference between today and the Cold War era was that it was also using the weapon of cyber warfare.

Russia was targeting military secrets, industrial projects and economic information, he said.

However, this prompted the Kremlin to hit back and said there was no evidence to support the claims.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: 'Those words to do correspond to the reality.

'We do not agree with them, and claims regarding cyber-attacks we have already commented on.

'No-one has yet given any evidence so we cannot consider claims that are not founded on evidence.

'Until someone produces proof, we will consider those statements unfounded and baseless.'