Hertza region
After the death in March 1940 Edvarts Virza, in an unstable Latvian political environment that was highly aware of the aggressive powers to both its east and west, Soviet forces began to enforce the secret parts of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact on its neighbours, annexing: Estonia; Lithuania,; Bessarabia; Northern Bukovina; and the Hertza region. On the 14/15 June 1940, Red Army unit invaded the Russian/Latvian Masļenki border point, allowing Soviet tank units to invade and occupy Riga on June 17.