A Norwegian citizen was tasked with gathering information for Russia and Iran. There are several interesting twists in the case.
A Norwegian man was arrested in his home on Thursday and is facing accusations of engaging in serious intelligence activities against state secrets. He could face up to 10 years in prison. The Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) has confirmed that they possess evidence of espionage, including a record of conversations between the accused and an investigating officer. The man has been taken into custody and will be held in solitary confinement for one month. Thomas Blom from PST stated it is too early to determine what information was passed on and what he intended to share with Russian services.
Initially, the message from the Oslo police was unclear and enigmatic, but it was soon revealed that the arrested man was a security guard at the US embassy.
The Oslo District Court stated in its decision to arrest the man that, depending on the circumstances, information regarding visitors to the American embassy may be considered classified. The court noted that the activities of the detainee could pose a threat to US security interests.
Who is the arrested Norwegian? According to information from the independent portal The Barents Observer, the individual is 27 years old. It was further confirmed by the Dagbladet newspaper, which noted that he is of African descent. Additionally, state television NRK reported that the man co-owned a security company with a friend.
The friend is of Eastern European descent and holds dual citizenship—Norwegian and his country of origin. According to NRK, he has posted multiple photos on his social media accounts that suggest he works as a security guard at the American embassy in Oslo. Publicly available information about the company shows that since its establishment in 2017, it has had neither income nor expenses.
The arrested Norwegian was a University of Tromsø (UiT) student. It is the same university where Mikhail Mikushin, who was arrested in 2022 for using the false identity of Brazilian scientist José Assis Giammaria, worked. Mikushin returned to Moscow in August as part of a significant prisoner exchange between Russia and the West. The university confirmed that the Norwegian student was studying security.
,,– UiT had no knowledge that the arrest would take place, nor did it receive any information indicating that the arrest or charges were related to the fact that the person in question is a UiT student – the university said in a press release.
UiT director Jørgen Fossland stated that the university had not received any information suggesting a connection between the accusation and the fact that the 27-year-old individual was a student at UiT.
The man who was arrested studied a course on organizing Norway's preparedness for undesirable events that pose threats at both the national and municipal levels and the organization of defense in the northern regions. It is also known that Mikhail Mikushin showed interest in this course during his time at the university.
The Barents Observer has established that the arrested 27-year-old has visited Kirkenes, a city in northern Norway near Russia's border, twice in recent months. What was he doing there? It is not known - he may have been visiting the UiT campus. Students contacted by the Norwegian tabloid VG described him as nice but oddly absent-minded. His social media account is nearly empty, containing only a profile picture.
Norway is facing another espionage scandal following the notable Mikushin case. Recently, Norwegian media reported uncovering approximately a dozen Russian spies who disguised themselves as diplomats. In April of this year, TV2 conducted a journalistic investigation that revealed Russians had purchased dachas near a Norwegian NATO base. The Barents Observer recently revealed that Nikolai Ruzayev, a security guard at the Russian Consulate General in Kirkenes, is a former Russian FSS Border Service officer. The Russian Consul General in Barentsburg on Svalbard, Andrei Chemerilo, is a GRU officer.
urs / belsat.eu
Translated by PEV
