The Russians called the risks when traveling to Norway: under the bunad

Russian Foreign Ministry warns of “northern” spy mania

From now on, Russians are urged to keep their eyes open when crossing the border of their nearest northern neighbor. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation officially calls for “weighing the risks” when traveling in Norway. You can be “under the bunad” – this is the name of the national Norwegian cap. Particular attention should be paid to the transportation and use of photographic and video equipment, avoiding the shooting of particularly “sensitive objects”.

The official representative of the Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that “a real hunt has been declared” for Russians in Norway, that “anti-Russian spy mania has broken out” in the neighboring country.

Most likely, the reason for such warnings was the fact that in recent days several Russians have indeed been detained in Norway at once for filming from drones. Among those detained for launching a drone by the police was the son of the ex-head of Russian Railways, Andrey Yakunin. He is reported to have dual citizenship, Russian and British. And he launched a drone into the air on Svalbard to “take pictures of nature.” Meanwhile, he was reportedly later released from custody.

“We recommend that Russian citizens who have an intention to visit Norway carefully weigh the risks when planning their trips and be prepared for special interest from the Norwegian special services and law enforcement agencies,” Maria Zakharova said at a briefing. She also criticized the explanations of the Norwegian side, saying that the Russians were detained because they “removed sensitive objects.” Everything can become sensitive, even the place where people wash their hands,” Zakharova said.

To this we can add that, according to social networks, even the clergy began to raise questions. For example, in Stavanger, in the country’s southwest, a former Orthodox priest is noted to own a site near the NATO Joint Military Center. A similar neighborhood with “special” objects was noticed in the cities of Karma, Kleppe and Brin.

“I don’t know, we don’t notice any pressure,” says Natalya, a Muscovite who has been living in Norway for three years. – My husband has been living here twice as long as I, rotates in a university environment. I’m in college. Not once in all the time since February of this year, no one has suspected us of anything. On the contrary, many come up with words of support, both to us and to the Ukrainians. They say something like this: “Your countries are going through difficult times, we wish you a speedy end to the difficulties.” When the sanctions began, and we had difficulties with bank cards, my husband was offered financial assistance at the university several times. It’s even strange for me to hear that Orthodox priests have been suspected of something in the southwest, we ourselves live nearby. The church in our city, however, is Adventist. But I know how respectful the Norwegians are towards church representatives in general.

And as for filming with a drone, my husband recently filmed our North Sea bay, this hobby is common here. No one was arrested, thank God. I can’t comment on the arrests. But I will say about the Norwegians – absolute tolerance for any religion, nationality and other social differences is the basis of the local mentality. To persecute someone only on a national basis, as well as on any other, is simply indecent here. Therefore, it is hard to imagine that it is the Russians who are detained for their origin. In any case, where my husband and I live, there is nothing like that.