Drone sightings over energy infrastructure facilities make Norway's authorities sit up and take notice. In the past few days, the police have arrested several Russian citizens. Extensive photographic material was found with them.
Four Russians have been arrested again in Norway for taking unauthorized photos of various objects. The four, three men and one woman, were arrested in northern Norway last Thursday, the police said on Monday. They were traveling in a car with Russian license plates.
Extensive photo material was confiscated from them, police officer Gaute Rydmark told TV2. However, the four Russians denied having done anything illegal and instead pretended to be ordinary tourists. According to the Norwegian police, they entered Norway via Finland at the end of September or early October.
Two Russians were arrested in Norway last week in different incidents. A 51-year-old man was spotted taking photos at Kirkenes Airport. According to the police, officials found photos of the airport and of Norwegian military Bell helicopters during a search. A Russian had previously been noticed at the border who had two drones and storage media with a number of photos and videos taken in Norway.
In Norway, drones have repeatedly been sighted on energy infrastructure systems, including on offshore oil and gas platforms. These incidents and the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea have prompted the country to increase security. 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.
