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Norway detains second drone-carrying Russian

Norway said Saturday it arrested a Russian national carrying a drone and camera equipment after he was seen taking photos of an airport in the far north, the second such arrest in a week.

Published: 16 October 2022 08:18 CEST
the Norwegian-Russian border crossing station at Storskog near the town of Kirkenes in northern Norway
This file photo shows the Norwegian-Russian border crossing station at Storskog near the town of Kirkenes in northern Norway where a Russian with drones and videos was detained on Friday. A second Russian with drone footage of Norwegian airports and military buildings was arrested on Saturday. Photo: Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP

Norway is on high alert following reports of mysterious drone sightings close to offshore oil and gas drilling platforms run by the major energy producer.

Last month’s Nord Stream gas pipeline blasts in the Baltic Sea are widely assumed to be the result of sabotage.

The 51 year-old Russian man, whose name was not disclosed, was arrested Friday on suspicion of flying a drone in Norway, to which he confessed.

“Police have confiscated a large amount of photography equipment, including a drone and a cache of memory cards”, police in the northern town of Tromso said in a statement.

The confiscated material included photographs of another airport in the northern town of Kirkenes and the Norwegian military’s Bell helicopters, it said.

READ ALSO: Could Norway’s gas supplies become a target for saboteurs?

Norway’s Police Security Service has been called in on the investigation, Tromso police said.

The Scandinavian country, along with several other Western nations, has forbidden Russians and Russian entities from overflying its territory following the February invasion of Ukraine.

Breaking that ban is punishable by a three-year prison term.

On Friday, Norwegian police said they had detained another Russian caught crossing the border in the far north earlier this week as he returned home with two drones and a cache of photos and videos.

That man, named as 50-year-old Vitaly Rustanov, was arrested at the border post of Storskog, the only transit point between Norway and Russia.

Rustanov admitted flying drones “across the whole country” but denied any wrongdoing, and was on Friday placed in provisional custody for two weeks.

He was carrying two Russian passports and an Israeli one when arrested attempting to drive back into Russia.

In Norway since August, he was carrying a partially encrypted four-terabyte stash of photos and videos when arrested.

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine having led to a huge fall-off of Moscow’s energy deliveries, Norway has overtaken Russia as the main supplier of natural gas to Western Europe.

Following the Nord Stream explosions and drone sightings, Norway increased security around its energy installations.

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UKRAINE

Norway gives $103m to Ukraine to secure electricity

Norway said Sunday that it would provide 1.1 billion kroner ($103 million) to Ukraine to help repair its energy infrastructure and secure the country's electricity supply before next winter.

Published: 16 June 2024 12:40 CEST
Norway gives $103m to Ukraine to secure electricity

“Russia is carrying out massive, systematic attacks to paralyse the power grid, but Ukrainians are working day and night to maintain essential electricity supplies for the population,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said in a statement.

According to new estimates, more than 50 percent of Ukraine’s power production capacity has been destroyed, the government said.

“We are in close dialogue with Ukraine on how it can use these funds most effectively. The Ukrainians themselves have the best insight into what is needed,” Store said, adding that it was important to begin infrastructure repairs before the onset of winter.

Norway said it had already been decided that 120 million kroner would go toward repairs in the Kharkiv area, which has been hit particularly hard by Russian attacks recently.

Solar panels will be installed at seven maternity units and operating theatres in the Kharkiv area, Store said in the statement, which was issued as he attended a Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland.

In 2022, Norway provided 2.1 billion kroner in funding to the Ukrainian energy sector, and 1.9 billion kroner last year.

The Scandinavian country has pledged 75 billion kroner in military and civilian aid to Ukraine for the five-year period 2023-2027, with funding allocated each year in line with Ukraine’s needs.

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