Latvian citizen who threatened Ukrainian family on Swiss train receives penalty

The prosecutor's office of the Swiss canton of Bern has found 42-year-old Latvian citizen Aleksandrs Vabiks, who lives in Switzerland, guilty of repeated threats and insults against four victims. The case drew wide attention after a video showed him threatening a Ukrainian family on a train in October 2025. Radio Svoboda reported the ruling, citing Ukrainian producer and volunteer Rada Radmilevich.

The penalty

Vabiks was given a fine of just under 4,000 Swiss francs (about 4,375 euros). He also received a suspended monetary penalty of 12,000 francs (13,125 euros) with a two-year probation period. Radmilevich said the victims' claims for compensation for moral damage will be heard in civil proceedings.

The train incident

The incident took place on 13 October 2025 on a train from Interlaken to Spiez. Speaking Russian, Vabiks threatened Ukrainian woman Olena Dudnyk and her husband in the presence of their son, who was one year and ten months old. In the video he demands that the recording be deleted, vows to kill Ukrainians and says he holds a Swiss passport. According to the video's publisher, he also demanded 10,000 francs from the victims so they would not complain to the police.

Online commenters identified the man as Vabiks, who stated on his social media profiles that he attended Zolitude Gymnasium in Riga and lives in Zurich.

Other allegations

Radio Svoboda reported that more than ten Ukrainian women later complained about Vabiks's aggressive behaviour on public transport, on the street, in gyms and in shops. Dudnyk said Vabiks worked as a head chef in the kitchen at Zurich airport and was dismissed after the incident. He may also be the same Vabiks who is on Latvia's list of people who fail to pay child maintenance.