A 50 year-old Russian-Israeli citizen was arrested at the Storskog border crossing between Norway and Russia on Thursday after police found two drones and several data storage units in his car during a routine check.
The man, police said, had been in Norway since Aug. 25 on a tourist visa and was returning to Russia when he was detained. A court on Friday ruled that he could be detained for an initial two week-period.The charges include breach of sanctions introduced following Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Since the onslaught started in February this year Russians are not allowed to fly drones in Norway.
The man, named as 50-year-old Vitaly Rustanov, was arrested this week at the border post of Storskog, the only transit point between Norway and Russia. A judge at a court in Vadso ordered Rustanov placed in custody for two weeks in line with a police request.
“There are… reasons to believe the accused will try to escape judicial proceedings unless he is placed in provisional custody,” the judge ruled. Rustanov was carrying two Russian passports and an Israeli one when arrested, he noted.
According to the judge’s ruling, Rustanov, had admitted to flying drones “across the whole country” but denied any wrongdoing.
In Norway since August, he was carrying a partially encrypted four-terabyte stash of photos and videos when arrested.
“He has explained he was in Norway as a tourist visiting somebody,” police official Anja Indbjor told Verdens Gang daily.
“He has explained he photographed and flew a drone for private reasons and indicated he likes taking photos and is a photographer,” added Indbjor.
Customs officers found two drones and several electronic storage devices in his luggage during a routine check at the Storskog border crossing, the sole crossing point between NATO-member Norway and Russia,he seized material — which according to VG included 4 terabytes of stored images and files, with parts of them encrypted.
Storskog border crossing point – Photo: Atle Staalesen
Norway, along with several other Western countries, has forbidden Russians and Russian entities from overflying its territory following the February invasion of Ukraine. Breaking that ban is punishable by a three-year prison term. Rustanov told police he was unaware of the ban.
The detention comes after unidentified drones on several occasions have been spotted near Norwegian industrial installations, including oil and gas plants and infrastructure. The number of drone observations have significantly increased following the blasts of the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
On the 11th of October, Police in Hammerfest, northern Norway, informed that a possible drone observation had been made near the local Melkøya LNG plant.
Norway police on Friday investigated reports of a drone flying over the Kaarstoe gas plant in southwest Norway on Thursday,
At 2130 local time (1930 GMT) on Thursday, the military posted at Kaarstoe reported that they had seen a drone flying in the vicinity of the plant, police official Kjetil Lussand said.
“Police responded to find the drone and find the operator. They did not find them. We have no suspects and no arrests have been made,” Lussand said.
Norway said Saturday it arrested a second Russian national carrying a drone and camera equipment after he was seen taking photos of an airport in the far north, the second such arrest in a week.
The 51 year-old Russian man, whose name was not disclosed, was arrested Friday on suspicion of flying a drone in Norway, to which he confessed.
“Police have confiscated a large amount of photography equipment, including a drone and a cache of memory cards”, police in the northern town of Tromso said in a statement.
The confiscated material included photographs of another airport in the northern town of Kirkenes and the Norwegian military’s Bell helicopters, it said.
Norway has recently introduced heightened security and preparedness around objects of key strategic importance. Several coast guard vessels are now guarding the waters around offshore energy installations and the Home Guard has mobilized forces on land.
Top Photo: A sign reading “Russia 490m” stands next to the checkpoint between Storskog and Borisoglebsk on the Norway-Russia border in Norway, on October 26, 2019 – Maxim Shemetov / Reuters File Photo
Sources: AP; The Barents Observer; Arctic Today; The Local;