many strategic objects were important mainly for the transfer of information. this would ensure that if the soviets did launch an attack, the latvian forces could hold these locations long enough to inform the rest of the world. the international telephone exchange was important to maintain connections with both foreign countries and other parts of the ussr. an often noted example is lithuania. it was partly cut off from the rest of the world after the soviet attack. foreign calls to lithuania were transferred through riga. latvian radio and television worked day and night to broadcast throughout the time of the barricades.