Thomas Nilsen

Russian diplomat staged Navy Parade at Norway’s Svalbard archipelago

The world’s northernmost diplomat, GRU-affiliated Andrei Chemerilo, led the military-inspired small flotilla in the waters outside Barentsburg on Sunday.
July 31, 2023

Less than a year after launch, Russia's newest nuclear icebreaker sails back to St. Petersburg yard

As Russia lacks big floating docks up north, the giant “Ural” icebreaker has to sail all around Scandinavia to Kronstadt Marine Yard for repair and inspection of the hull and propeller system.
July 28, 2023

Arkhangelsk tops list of harassed environmental defenders

Harassment, fines, and prosecutions are just some of the tactics authorities use across Russia to silence eco-activists. Whistleblower Aleksandr Peskov was detained for two days for filming at Shiyes, a proposed massive landfill project in Arkhangelsk region for trash from Moscow.
July 27, 2023

TV Rain declared ‘undesirable organization’

The Prosecutor General’s Office in Moscow has listed TV Rain (TV Dozhd) as undesirable. The popular independent media channel says it has to cancel subscriptions from Russians.
July 26, 2023

Border official was offered a bribe to sneak illegal migrants across Russia-Norway frontier

A man from southern Russia stands trial in Zapolyarny for giving $4,000 to a guard at an observation post, supposed to allow four Syrian citizens to make it over to Norway.
July 18, 2023

Bird flu outbreak hits Barents Sea coast

Reports are coming in about hundreds of dead birds from Hammerfest in the west to Murmansk in the east.
July 15, 2023

Northern Fleet will not send nuclear sub to main Navy parade

Amid Baltic Sea NATO expansion and growing east-west mistrust, Russia has decided not to sail a nuclear-powered submarine from the Kola Peninsula to the annual high-profile naval parade taking place in St. Petersburg on July 30.
July 14, 2023

P-8 Poseidon on Barents Sea mission, turned off transponders

While the Norwegian P-8 Poseidon flew north of the Kola Peninsula, an American RC-135V Rivet Joint was circling over northernmost Finland, near the border with Russia.
July 11, 2023

Svalbard cruise season in full swing, but unlikely to hit pre-pandemic record

About 25 cruise vessels are currently sailing the rugged, remote Svalbard archipelago with thousands of passengers hoping to get a glimpse of polar bears and other Arctic wildlife.
July 11, 2023

Russia declares Norway-headquartered Human Rights House ‘undesirable’

The Procurator General’s Office in Moscow claims the organisation’s activities are “provocative” and “shapes public opinions”.
July 07, 2023

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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