Atle Staalesen

Murmansk brings 230 kids from Ukrainian "friendship town" to Russia

The Russian Arctic region, whose governor is under international sanctions for abducting Ukrainian children, will this summer bring more than 230 school kids from the occupied town of Primorsk to Russia.
June 14, 2023

Police in Murmansk detains 15-year old girl for wearing pin with Ukrainian colours

The teenager who has lost her father on the battlefield in Ukraine explained to police that she wants "peace in the world."
June 09, 2023

Two icebreakers escort gas tanker in first summer shipment on Arctic route

Ice lies thick on the water as nuclear powered icebreakers "Sibir" and "Arktika" escort LNG carrier "Fedor Litke" into the Vilkitsky Strait en route to a Northeast Asian port.
June 09, 2023

Chinese investors could finance Murmansk LNG

Leader of natural gas company Novatek pushes for tax benefits for Chinese companies investing in the Russian Arctic.
June 07, 2023

Murmansk strengthens ties with occupied Ukrainian territories

Governor Andrei Chibis pays visit to the Zaporizhzhia region and says Murmansk will provide "all the help needed."
June 06, 2023

Novatek mulls 1,300 km pipeline to LNG plant in Murmansk

The natural gas company intends to build a major natural gas plant in the Kola Peninsula that will be connected with a pipeline to Gazprom's national grid.
June 06, 2023

Norway's injustice against minorities laid out in new landmark report

For more than 30 hours, representatives of civil society, academia and public service read loud the 700 page report about Norwegianization of the Sámi people, Kvens/Norwegian Finns and Forest Finns.
June 02, 2023

Belarus sends prime minister and military leaders to Murmansk

At the same time as Moscow deployed nuclear weapons in Belarus, top delegations from Minsk arrived in the far northern and heavy militarized Kola Peninsula.
June 01, 2023

Russia's new storage vessel for spent nuclear fuel is designed for sailing in Arctic sea-ice

Nuclear power company Rosatom signs construction contract with the Baltic Yard in St.Petersburg.
May 30, 2023

Barents Observer journalist takes Russian Justice Ministry to court

"The justification for declaring me a "foreign agent" is ridiculous," says Georgii Chentemirov.
May 25, 2023

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Atle is journalist and Publisher of the Independent Barents Observer.

In 2002, he founded the Barents Observer. He was editor until 2009 and later worked as journalist and project coordinator for several European cross-border cooperation projects. In late 2015, following a conflict over editorial rights, he re-established the Barents Observer as an independent and non-profit stock company along with the rest of the newspaper crew.  

Atle has a degree in Russian studies from the University of Oslo and studied journalism at the Moscow State University.

atle@thebarentsobserver.com
@atlestaalesen