It was in mid-October when an airport employee in Tromsø, Norway, noticed a man with a drone. It turned out to be a Russian who made images of the airport with his drone. On the memory card, the police also discovered images of another airport and of a helicopter of the Norwegian army. Three days later, another Russian drone was arrested, this time in the Svalbard archipelago. “Important information” was also found on his memory card, according to the police.
And then the news, this week, that a Russian spy has been arrested. It concerns a guest lecturer at the University of Tromsø posing as a Brazilian scientist. In reality, he worked for the Russian authorities, according to the Norwegian security service PST.
It is only part of a series of suspicious activities that the Norwegian authorities have noticed in recent weeks. For example, several unknown drones were observed near oil and gas installations in the North Sea. Seven Russians were arrested for taking photo and video footage.
More surveillance
Does all this indicate a coordinated Russian sabotage action? According to defense expert Erik Solli of the Norwegian Institute of International Relations (NUPI), the security services have been warning for years about an increase in Russian espionage activities. The difference is that police and citizens are now extra vigilant, especially since the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines. That attack took place a day before Norway opened a new pipeline to Poland. ‘There is more monitoring, more surveillance and the public has been asked to look out for suspicious things such as drones. That certainly has an effect.’
Another factor is that not all Russians are aware of the drone and photography ban, which only applies to them. It is one of the sanctions implemented by the Norwegians after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A group of four Russians has since been released after it turned out that they had not made any suspicious images. But even then, the number of incidents in recent weeks is striking. On Monday, two Russian men in their thirties were arrested on suspicion of photographing a military base.
Erik Reichborn, senior researcher at NUPI, thinks the Russians are not so much interested in gathering information. ‘That has already been mapped out. The NATO countries also know where the critical infrastructure is located in Russia.’ According to Reichborn, Moscow mainly wants to sow fear among the population. The Kremlin wants the Norwegian government to act. They can then use that for their own propaganda about anti-Russian policy in Europe.’
No doubt no coincidence
The Russians did indeed react along that line on Wednesday. The embassy in Oslo complained about ‘espionage mania’ in Norway. “Anything Russian, whether it be government organizations, companies or citizens, is suspicious and smacks of espionage,” the embassy said. ‘The fact that we are now seeing a series of incidents is without doubt no coincidence. This is all politically motivated.’
The Norwegians see it differently. According to the Security Service PST, Moscow is collecting intelligence about Norwegian power plants, military sites and oil and gas installations. During a press conference last week, the service asked citizens to report suspicious activities around these places to the police.’ We must not be naive. We have to be alert to suspicious things and report them.’
According to Solli, it is possible that the Russians have increased their spying, including with drones, to keep their existing intelligence up to date. Most Norwegian attention, however, is on protecting the pipelines that carry the gas from Norway to Europe. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre recently said that visible and invisible measures have been taken. It is visible that the army is now guarding gas and oil installations and that naval ships from Germany, England and Norway are patrolling the North Sea.
Help from all parties
According to Solli, it remains invisible that the pipelines are inspected by unmanned vessels for explosives – previously installed. That is quite a job, because there are 9,000 kilometers of pipes. ‘But don’t forget that all parties help, so the government, but also oil and gas companies and service providers in the sector. Together they have a lot of capacity.’
Eichborn believes that the authorities – as well as Norwegian media – are exaggerating the attention for the drones and thus may inadvertently play into Russia’s hands. ‘Real Russian saboteurs wouldn’t show themselves so easily with a drone. If Moscow is behind it, then it is by no means always to gather intelligence, but to increase the feeling of insecurity.’ According to him, the actions of the Norwegian government are partly intended to allay public concerns. ‘The fact that they have now arrested the spy is not because he has suddenly run into the lamp. Chances are they’ve had their eye on him for a while and thought now would be a good time to arrest him.’