Russian national carrying drone detained at Norway airport

Local police detained a 51-year-old Russian national carrying a drone at an airport in Norway’s Tromsø, NRK radio and television broadcasting company reports.

Law enforcement officers detained the man after they saw him photograph something. They seized a large amount of photo equipment, including several memory cards and a drone. The man was accused of using a drone. According to the sanctions laws that entered into force after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian nationals cannot use unmanned aerial equipment in Norway. The police requested to arrest the Russian citizen for four weeks.

Later, the man admitted that he was using a drone on Norwegian territory. It is reported that he took photographs of an airport in Kirkenes and of the Bell helicopter belonging to the country’s armed forces.

On Thursday, Norwegian police detained a Russian national in the city of Storskog, where a Russian-Norwegian border crossing checkpoint is located, for carrying two drones in his luggage.

The Russian man was also accused of violating Norway’s sanctions laws, NRK reported.

In late September, the Norwegian government ruled to tighten security measures at the Russian-Norwegian border due to the risks brought on by Vladimir Putin’s mobilisation order.