October 13: “Russian arrested: Caught with two drones near Storskog”
– NRK
October 15: “Russian citizen arrested by drone in Tromsø”
– “VG”
October 19: “More and more drone sightings at airports”
– TV2
October 19: “Russian accused of flying drone over Spitsbergen”
– “VG”
23 October: “Report on drone observations on the Åsgard B oil and gas platform”
– “VG”
October 24: “Norway arrests two Russians for taking pictures of a military base”
– AP news agency
25 October: “Suspected Russian spy detained in Tromsø”
– NRK
It is these and other such headlines that have caused concern in Norway in recent weeks. Drones have been sighted several times at critical infrastructure points such as oil and gas platforms and airports. The authorities have targeted Russian citizens who have been arrested by the police. The country’s secret service is also alarmed.
What’s happening in Norway right now that’s been dubbed a “drone bonanza”?
Even before and after the explosions on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, drone activity was spotted at oil and gas facilities in the Scandinavian country.
In recent weeks, two Russians have also been arrested in Norway in different incidents, who had used drones and sometimes taken photos of the Norwegian military’s Bell helicopters.
According to a report by Norwegian broadcaster NRK, a 50-year-old Russian was arrested on October 11. During a customs check on the way out of Norway, drones and storage media were found in his luggage.
The 50-year-old has been accused of violating the Sanctions Law and Ordinance that came into force after Russia’s war against Ukraine. One paragraph states that Russian companies or citizens are not allowed to fly in Norway. At the same time, the charges against the man could be expanded and the Norwegian secret service could take over the investigation.
Shortly after the arrest, Norwegian Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl said it was too early to classify the case as espionage. “At the same time, it is known that we face an intelligence threat that has been exacerbated by events in Europe.”
A few days later in Tromsø: a Russian citizen is arrested. He is said to have taken photos at the city’s airport, according to the newspaper “VG”. The 51-year-old was caught with a large amount of photographic equipment, including a drone and several memory cards, according to the report. He is accused of flying a drone. The man said he only took photos for private purposes.
As the “VG” further reports, one of the pictures should show a Bell helicopter of the Norwegian armed forces.
According to media reports, drones were also sighted at Bergen and Førde airports.
Another arrest of a Russian for illegal drone flights meanwhile has an aftertaste: The Norwegian police arrested the son of the former Russian railway chief and Putin confidante Vladimir Yakunin for illegal drone flights over Svalbard. Andrej Jakunin was arrested in Hammerfest in northern Norway last week, police said. The Russian-British national admitted to illegally piloting a drone over the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Spitsbergen, a police official said.
Yakunin is in custody, drones and other electronic devices have been confiscated, it said. It is the seventh arrest of Russian citizens within a few days. According to the Barents Observer, however, Yakunin is said to be an opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine.
According to information from “VG”, the case is now being investigated by the Norwegian secret service PST. “We see Svalbard as a very important strategic Norwegian area and important in an intelligence context for Russia,” said Hedvig Moe, deputy head of the PST.
Svalbard is a thousand kilometers from the North Pole and is Norwegian territory. Since Russia also mines coal on the archipelago, it is home to a relatively large Russian community.
The next news came on Tuesday: A Brazilian citizen was arrested on Monday morning on his way to work in Tromsø, NRK reports. The PST suspects that he is in Norway under a false name and false identity and is actually Russian and works for the Russian secret service.
“We have asked that a Brazilian researcher at the University of Tromso be expelled from Norway because we believe he poses a threat to fundamental national interests,” PST deputy chief Hedvig Moe told NRK.
According to the report, the man came to the University of Tromsø in autumn 2021 for a research assignment. There he researched, among other things, the northern region and hybrid threats. “PST fears that he may have acquired a network and information about Norway’s politics in the northern area. Even if this network or information does not pose a threat to the security of the kingdom at all, we fear that the information will be misused by Russia could,” Moe continued.
In connection with the drone flights near Norwegian airports, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Störe told broadcaster NRK: “It is unacceptable that foreign intelligence services fly drones over Norwegian airports.” The Russians do not have the right to fly drones over Norway, he added.
But the country’s energy infrastructure was also the target of drones. For example, they have been spotted on offshore oil and gas platforms. For example, drone activity was reported over the Åsgård B oil and gas platform on Saturday. According to “VG”, workers reported this to the police.
Reports like this have prompted the country to step up its security measures. According to “VG”, there are said to have been at least ten such sightings on offshore installations.
Norway has overtaken Russia as the largest gas supplier to Western Europe since energy imports from Russia were cut in the wake of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.
What could be the meaning and purpose of these drone flights?
Ståle Ulriksen is a researcher and teacher at FHS/Naval School. He is aware that he does not know the details of the observed drones, but still has some thoughts on the situation, he tells TV channel TV2.
“If there are drones there that we don’t know who controls them, then I think someone is preparing something.” He makes it clear that no one lets drones fly aimlessly in the North Sea.
He is supported by Tore Bukvoll, research director at the Norwegian Defense Research Institute.
“It can only be espionage,” he tells TV2. In this way, information about systems or routines on the platforms could be collected. He makes it clear that there is one nation in particular that takes care of the oil and gas infrastructure of foreign powers – and that is Russia.
The police in Norway have other theories. One of them is that the drone flights are intended to spread fear.
The secret service PST is trying to find out whether a state actor is behind the “drone bonanza”, reports the newspaper “Dagbladet”.
“There may be a desire to stoke fear and uncertainty over Norway’s gas supplies to Europe, which is particularly important today. But it could also be espionage, meaning Russia is using drones to get information about oil facilities and energy operations ashore and how things are going there,” emphasizes PST boss Moe.
At the same time, Moe thinks it is likely that Russia is now even more interested in getting more detailed information about certain parts of Norwegian society and that they will dare to take bigger risks in order to get valuable information: “This can typically be information by Norwegian citizens who are familiar with political decision-making processes or technological development,” she quotes the “Dagbladet”.
Sources: AFP and AP news agencies, NRK; “VG”, TV2, “Barents Observer”, “Dagbladet”
