Intelligence: Norway could be the next target of Russian sabotage

Russian special services are actively operating in Norway, and attacks on critical infrastructure may become a reality in the near future.

Norwegian counterintelligence officers are convinced that Russian subversive activity in the country is inevitable. Gospodarka Morska reports.

Not only telecommunications infrastructure, but also other key state systems, including banks and electronic payment operators, will be under threat, said the head of the Norwegian Internal Security Service (PST) Beate Gangos.

According to her, pipelines, energy facilities, telecommunications networks and submarine cables remain the most vulnerable to attacks. In addition, Russian intelligence activity in Norway is increasing, especially in the north of the country, where the Kremlin is trying to monitor critical infrastructure, NATO military exercises and uses drones for reconnaissance.

As the head of the National Security Agency (NSM), Arne Christian Heigstoel, noted, the question is not whether Russian sabotage will occur, but when it will happen.

“There is every reason to believe that an organization that is planning a sabotage act against Norway will eventually achieve its goal. They have every opportunity to do so. They have been putting us on the map for years,” Heigstoel stressed.

He also noted that 80 years of peace have relaxed Norwegian society, and many measures that should have been taken to protect against threats are long overdue.

Since 2022, Norway has repeatedly deported Russian agents involved in espionage. One of them was Mikhail Mikushin, a GRU colonel who worked undercover for a long time as a “Brazilian scientist.” In 2024, he returned to Russia as part of the largest spy exchange in recent years between Moscow, Western countries, and Russian dissidents.

The day before, the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained why it is impossible to track all threats in the Baltic Sea.