Norway said Friday it had detained a Russian caught crossing the border in the Scandinavian nation’s far north as he returned home with two drones and a cache of photos and videos. The move comes as Norway is on high alert following several reports of mysterious drone sightings close to offshore oil and gas drilling platforms run by major energy producer Norway.
Last month’s Nord Stream gas pipeline blasts in the Baltic Sea are widely assumed to be the result of sabotage.
The man, identified as 50-year-old Vitaly Rustanov, was arrested this week at the border post of Storskog, the only transit point between Norway and Russia. A judge at a court in Vadso ordered Rustanov placed in custody for two weeks in line with a police request.
“There are… reasons to believe the accused will try to escape judicial proceedings unless he is placed in provisional custody,” the judge ruled. Rustanov was carrying two Russian passports and an Israeli one when arrested, he noted.
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.
In Norway since August, he was carrying a partially encrypted four-terabyte stash of photos and videos when arrested.
Norway Investigates Drone Threat At Natural Gas Processing Plant
Norwegian police are investigating reports of a drone flying over the gas processing plant Kårstø in southwestern Norway, Norwegian newspaper Stavanger Aftenblad reported on Friday.
The drone was too large for hobby use, an expert on drones told the newspaper.
Norway has beefed up security at its energy infrastructure facilities since the end of September after spotting other drones flying over oil and gas assets and after the explosions on the lines of the Nord Stream pipeline in the Baltic Sea.
On September 26, the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) of Norway urged increased vigilance by all operators and vessel owners on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, after companies operating offshore Norway had recently given warnings or notifications of a number of observations concerning unidentified drones or aircraft close to offshore installations.
As of October 3, Norway has posted soldiers from its Home Guard to protect energy infrastructure as Western Europe’s largest oil and gas producer and its Scandinavian neighbors increased security following the suspected sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea at the end of September.
AC