Thomas Nilsen

OSCE will not send observers to monitor Russian Duma Elections

Limitations imposed by Russian authorities hinder OSCE’s ability to independently observe the parliamentary elections scheduled for September 17-19.
August 06, 2021

Russia spy agency says expelled Estonian consul was interested in Arctic plans

A video released by the FSB purports to show Mart Lätte seeking sensitive information about Russia's Arctic policy.
August 06, 2021

Beefing up forces ahead of Zapad-2021, Northern Fleet kicks off large-scale exercise

More than 10,000 soldiers take part as the Northern Fleet over the next days conducts a command and staff training exercise on land, at sea, and in the air.
August 05, 2021

Russian nuclear submarine lost propulsion in Danish waters, sails submerged outside Norway now

Danish Navy describes the situation as “dramatic” when the giant Oscar-II class submarine “Orel” drifted at 1,5 knots towards the island of Sejerø. Ropes were prepared for towing and two other Russian warships came to assist.
August 04, 2021

Santa Claus advocates vaccinations amid rising infections

The last 7-day average number of new infections in Finland is 632. Up north, travelers from Lapland who are not fully vaccinated are now subject to quarantine upon crossing the border to Norway.
August 03, 2021

Production of Arctic fiber-optic cable starts in Murmansk

Six pairs of fiber-optic cables with a bandwidth of up to 104 Tb/s will be laid on the seafloor along the 12,650 kilometers distance from the Barents Sea coast to Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East.
August 02, 2021

Sevmash launches "Krasnoyarsk" nuclear submarine

The submarine is the fourth in a series of nine Yasen-class multi-purpose vessels for the Russian navy.
July 30, 2021

Northern Fleet warships will conduct tactical exercises around Scandinavia

The first group of navy ships and submarines that participated in the naval parade in St. Petersburg last weekend sailed under Denmark’s Great Belt bridge Friday morning on their way north to the Kola Peninsula.
July 30, 2021

Swedish government greenlights higher-speed railway line all north to Luleå

The North Bothnia Line will connect Umeå and Luleå along the coast of north-eastern Sweden.
July 29, 2021

Rosatom subsidiary plans for lithium mining on the Kola Peninsula

Production of lithium compounds could start by 2030 in both Murmansk and Irkutsk regions with an estimated amount of 50 thousand tons annually.
July 29, 2021

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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