COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – Norwegian police on Monday placed into custody two more Russians on suspicion of taking photographs of a restricted military installation in northern Norway.
Prosecutor Steffen Ravnåsen told Norwegian broadcaster NRK the Russian citizens – a man and a woman in their 30s – were arrested Saturday near Bjerkvik which houses Norwegian Armed Forces military facility and barracks. Norway is a member of NATO.
Ravnåsen said the pair, who were in a car with Russian number plates, is suspected of illegally taking photos. The case has been referred to Norway´s domestic security agency PST which handles similar cases that involved Russians allegedly taking photos or flying drones illegally.
In recent weeks, several Russian citizens have been detained in Norway including four Russian nationals – three men and one woman – who were seen taking photos in central Norway of objects covered under a ban on photography. They have since been released.
PST official Martin Bernsen has said it was the agency’s task “to investigate espionage and enforce sanction rules against Russia.”
European nations have heightened security around key energy, internet and power infrastructure following last month´s underwater explosions that ruptured two natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea that were built to deliver Russian gas to Germany. The damaged Nord Stream pipelines off Sweden and Denmark discharged huge amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the air.