Norwegian citizen remains detained two weeks after unauthorised border crossing into Russia
The person faces trial according to FSB’s border directorate. Meanwhile, a court in Pechenga has ruled to keep the Norwegian in custody.
Circumstances are not all clear, but the Norwegian crossed into Russia on April 25, not far from the official border checkpoint and the village of Borisoglebsk where Russia operates a hydropower plant.
Police authorities in Finnmark, in charge of border control, confirm to the Barents Observer that the case is under investigation, but will not elaborate on details.
It is not allowed to cross the state border anywhere in the terrain. The Norwegian-Russian border is 198 kilometers long and in late April there was still snow and ice at most places.
FSB Border Directorate has according to media reports in Murmansk initiated a criminal case. The regional court in Pechenga decided to keep the person in custody awaiting trial, according to B-Port.
There are normally very few illegal border crossings along the Norwegian-Russian border. However, in January this year a Wagner defector made world-wide headlines as he managed to run across the ice-covered Pasvik River with FSB border guards chasing him in deep snow and the darkness of the polar night. At the location, it is the river that forms the border.
Spokesperson Henrik Hoel with the Foreign Ministry in Oslo says in a short email to the Barents Observer that no further comments on the case can be shared for “reasons of confidentiality.”
