Atle Staalesen

The Murmansk senator who threatens Finland gets medal from Putin

The ultra-conservative member of Russia's upper house of parliament has threatened with pointing Russian guns against Finland following its inclusion in NATO. This week, Konstantin Dolgov got the President's Medal for Service to the Motherland.
June 27, 2023

Wagner Group continues recruiting in Murmansk

Despite Yevgeny Prigozhin's attempted coup, his mercenary group has not halted its efforts to draft men in Russian regions.
June 26, 2023

Here lie 12,000 Nazi troops killed in Arctic battle. Now a memorial site devoted to Russian warriors killed in Ukraine is built alongside

Russian authorities build a so-called 'memorial garden' in Pechenga next to the cemetery that houses many of Hitler's troops killed in the 2WW attack on Murmansk.
June 26, 2023

Moscow says WWF threatens Russian development of Arctic

The Russian General Prosecutor argues that environmentalists undermine the country's expansionist plans in the Arctic and its development of the Northern Sea Route. The WWF is now declared an "undesired organisation."
June 23, 2023

New minesweepers coming to Northern Fleet

Three ships of Russia's new class of minesweepers are being built for Arctic waters.
June 22, 2023

Wealthiest Arctic region boosts support for infamous war battalion

Following reports about huge losses among soldiers from the Russian North, Governor of the Yamal Nenets region strikes deal with the commander of the Wolverine Battalion.
June 22, 2023

Norway eyes a new future in the abyss

The country believes it has a treasure of rare minerals and metals under the seabed of its vast oceans. But environmentalists warn that extraction could bring detrimental damage to marine ecosystems.
June 20, 2023

Mayor of Karelian capital Petrozavodsk signs up for war in Ukraine

Vladimir Lyubarsky intends to join a Chechen battalion known for its war crimes and extreme brutality in the onslaught on the neighbouring country.
June 19, 2023

Novatek's new 400 meter long LNG storage vessel is entering Arctic waters

The floating unit will be based in Ura Guba near Murmansk and serve as reloading hub for Russia's export of liquified natural gas. After four months of towing from the Korean shipyard, the Saam FSU this week reached the Norwegian Sea.
June 19, 2023

The Murmansk officer who refused to fight in Ukraine is declared political prisoner by human rights organisation Memorial

Dmitry Vasilets got 2,2 years behind bars for his unwillingness to go to war. The sentence is a violation of his constitutional rights, Memorial argues.
June 16, 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