FILE PHOTO: A hooded man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration

RIGA (Reuters) - Russia has carried out cyber attacks on Latvia’s foreign and defense apparatus and other state institutions, a Latvian intelligence agency said on Monday.

Russia’s military intelligence agency (GRU) has tried to access information by e-mail phishing attacks against government computers in “recent years”, Latvia’s Constitution Protection Bureau said.

“The cyber attacks in Latvia were carried out by the GRU for espionage purposes, and the most frequent attacks were directed against state institutions, including the foreign and defense sectors,” it said in a statement.

No attacks directed at influencing last weekend’s parliamentary elections were detected, it said.

Several Western countries issued coordinated denunciations of Russia last week for running what they described as a global hacking campaign, targeting institutions from sports anti-doping bodies to a nuclear power company and the chemical weapons watchdog.