In response to the April 23 expulsion of a Russian diplomat in Rīga whom Latvia had accused of spying, Russia has now expelled a diplomat from the Latvian embassy in Moscow.

First Secretary Juris Poikāns must leave Russia in two days, the news agency LETA reported April 29. Russia accuses him of actions unbecoming a diplomat, according to the news agency ITAR-TASS.

Latvia expelled Russia’s Second Secretary Piotr Urzhumov, who was accused of trying to gain information about the NATO defense alliance’s presence in Latvia. It was apparently the first time Latvia has expelled a diplomat since 1991 and followed similar recent actions by Estonia and Lithuania. Russia also answered those expulsions by asking Estonian and Lithuanian diplomats to leave Moscow.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in an April 23 statement,  had warned it might reciprocate against Latvia.

“The provocative action of official Rīga, which fits into the anti-Russian policy of the current Latvian leadership, did not come as a surprise,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in the statement posted on its Web site.

With a 3-1 victory over Kazakhstan, Latvia’s national hockey team has advanced to the qualifying round of the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship underway in the Czech Republic.

The April 27 game at first didn’t look good for Latvia, according to official game statistics posted on IHWC.net. Shot after shot from the Latvians was stopped by Kazakhstan’s goaltender Vitaliy Yeremeyev. In all, Latvia got off 30 shots against the goaltender. That compared to only 15 by Kazakhstan, all but one of which were stopped by veteran Artūrs Irbe.

After a scoreless first period, Kazakhstan’s Anatoliy Filatov earned a point for his team 12.5 minutes into the second period.

Its hopes for the qualifying round seeming to fade, Latvia returned in the third period to dispose of Kazakhstan with three strong goals, two of them on power plays.

Aleksandrs Ņiživijs, with assistance from Atvars Tribuncovs and Grigorijs Panteļejevs, tied up the game 3 minutes and 27 seconds into the final period. Then, in the 16th minute of play, Sergejs Žoltoks got the game-winning goal with help from Vjačeslavs Fanduļs and Normunds Sējējs.

And in the last seconds of the game, Žoltoks returned the favor by helping Fanduļs add one more point for Latvia.

Kazakhstan led in penalties with its players spending a total 12 minutes in the time-out box, compared to just 6 minutes for Latvia.

While Latvia joins the Czech Republic and Germany as Group A teams advancing to the qualifying round, Kazakhstan will find itself competing in the relegation round.

Latvian and German hockey fans kept up the din in Prague’s Sazka Arena as their teams battled to a 1-1 tie in an International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship game played April 26, media reports say. With one loss and one tie in the preliminary round, Latvia now needs to do well against Kazakhstan if it is to have a chance at the qualifying round.

In contrast to its 1-3 loss two days ago to the Czech Republic, Latvia came on strong against the Germans already in the first period. Sergejs Žoltoks, who was named Latvia’s most valuable player of the game, scored his nation’s only goal 9 minutes and 34 seconds into the first period, according to game results posted on IHWC.net. His power play was assisted by Normunds Sējējs and Oļegs Sorokins.

Germany evened up the score in the second period, getting the puck past Latvia’s veteran goaltender Artūrs Irbe.

In all, Germany had 24 shots on goal, compared to Latvia’s 23, according to official game statistics. Both teams had plenty of chances to score in the first two periods, but held each other back during the crucial third period. Latvia only had three shots on goal during the third period, compared to 12 in the first period and eight in the second period.

Latvian players also spent more minutes in the penalty box, 12, than did Germans, 8.

Latvia plays Kazakhstan on April 27 in Prague.

The top three teams in each of the four four-team groups in the preliminary round will advance to the qualifying round, which will be played April 30-May 4. The teams with the worst records in the preliminary round will face each other in the relegation round.

After its first two games in the Group A preliminary round, Latvia finds itself in third place behind Germany and the Czech Republic, but ahead of Kazakhstan.