The appeals court of Hålogaland, Norway, has ruled to keep Andrey Yakunin, the son of former Russian Railways head Vladimir Yakunin, in custody for using drones on Svalbard, NRK broadcasting company reports.
Yakunin was detained on 17 October. On the next day, the court ruled to arrest him for two weeks. However, Yakunin appealed the ruling. Yesterday, the appeals court of Hålogaland ruled to release him from custody.
Yakunin’s defenders insisted that the punishment measures introduced against other Russian nationals cannot be applied to his client, as he is a citizen of the UK.
Nevertheless, the Norway police successfully appealed this ruling.
Yakunin is not the first Russian national detained in Norway recently. Over the past month, 10 people have been detained in northern Norway (where strategic facilities are located) for suspicious activity that might be beneficial to the Russian government. Furthermore, Norwegian journalists noted that the Russian Orthodox Church had acquired several properties not far from military bases in Norway at once.
