Thomas Nilsen

Russian navy drill outside northern Norway ended without smoke

No missiles were launched at any of the four locations in the Norwegian Sea where the Russian Navy announced large-scale exercise.
August 18, 2019

Norwegian cruise ship banned from sailing Franz Josef Land

The two high-profile voyages had been planned for years with prestigious support from regional authorities in Murmansk.
August 17, 2019

Testing weapons with radiation source near populated areas a 'serious concern'

Nuclear safety expert Andrey Zolotkov with the Murmansk-based environmental group Bellona says there is always a risk of unforeseen circumstances as now seen with the missile blast and radiation spike in the White Sea.
August 13, 2019

Rosatom says five employees killed in blast while testing isotope and liquid propellant engine

August 10, 2019

Nuclear fuel carrier “Serebryanka” remains inside closed-off waters near missile explosion site

Authorities confirm mysterious brief radiation spike a few hours after the missile engine blast, but the source of release is still unknown. Greenpeace Russia demands greater transparency.
August 09, 2019

Casualties after missile engine explosion near Severodvinsk

At least two people died and several others received injuries after the liquid fuel in a missile jet engine exploded during a test at the military testing area Nyonoksa on White Sea coast.
August 08, 2019

Floating dock for nuclear icebreakers to be built in Crimea

Today’s floating docks in Murmansk are too small for the new fleet of LK-60 icebreakers.
August 08, 2019

Russia deploys missile system 70 km from Norway’s Vardø radar

Exercise shooting with the missiles designed to take out surface targets at a distance of up to 150 kilometres will be carried out this fall.
August 07, 2019

Russian navy to hold live-fire exercise off Northern Norway

NATO deploys extra maritime patrol aircraft to keep track of a Northern Fleet group of warships currently sailing north for live-shootings in the Norwegian Sea near the Arctic Circle.
August 06, 2019

July border crossings up 8%

Most Russians go to Norway for shopping and when the ruble gets stronger against the krone follows more cross-border travel.
August 04, 2019

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Thomas Nilsen is editor of the Independent Barents Observer with its news desk located in Kirkenes, northern Norway. He has a long experience in media cooperation across the borders in the high north of Europe, both as radio- and newspaper reporter all the way back to the days before the breakup of the Soviet Union. 

Nilsen has been editor of Barents Observer since 2009.

He was Deputy Head of the Norwegian Barents Secretariat from 2004-2009. Until 2003, he worked 12 years for the Bellona Foundation’s Russian study group, focusing on nuclear safety issues and general environmental challenges in northern areas and the Arctic. 

Thomas has been traveling extensively across northern Scandinavia and Arctic Russia since the late 80’s working for different media and organizations. He is also a guide at sea and in remote locations in the Russian north for various groups and regularly lectures on security issues, environmental and socio-economic development.

Thomas Nilsen studied at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Mobile: +47-90573143

thomas@thebarentsobserver.com
@nilsen.thomas