Norway says it expects more Russian spying in the Arctic, sabotage activity

OSLO - Norwegian security services said they expect Russia to step up its spying on Norway in 2026, with a focus on the Arctic, and Moscow may commit acts of sabotage aimed at undermining Oslo’s support for Ukraine.

Norway, an ally of Ukraine and Europe’s top supplier of pipeline gas, has been increasingly concerned that Russian intelligence agencies could target its energy infrastructure, either physically or via cyberattacks.

“We expect Russian intelligence services to increase their activity in Norway in 2026, with a continued focus on military targets and allied exercises, Norway’s support for Ukraine, and operations in the High North and the Arctic region,” Norwegian security services (PST) said in an annual threat assessment report published on Friday.

Russia has consistently denied any involvement in sabotage planning or attacks, and rejects such accusations as Western scaremongering.

Russian intelligence officers expelled

Norway has expelled Russian intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover and shut most of its ports to Russian vessels, limiting Moscow’s room to manoeuvre. But Russian agencies are expected to adapt, the security services said.

“They will seek to compensate for the possibilities that they have lost... to find other ways to get information,” PST’s head Beate Gangaas told Reuters.

Concern is growing in Europe at what officials see as an increase in hybrid threats from Russia, which it denies, since it launched its war in Ukraine.

Late in 2025 NATO’s top military commander said the alliance must be ready to respond to these types of threats to defend its territory.

PST said Russia is likely to continue surveillance along the rugged Norwegian coastline and mapping its critical infrastructure with the use of civilian vessels.

Attempts to recruit Ukrainian refugees

It also warned that Russian services are increasingly trying to recruit Ukrainian refugees in Norway for intelligence gathering or sabotage, especially those with family or property in Russian‑occupied areas of Ukraine.

The Russian embassy in Norway was not immediately available for comment.

With roughly 100,000 Ukrainian refugees in Norway, such recruitment poses “a major challenge,” PST added.

In the Arctic, Norway monitors Russian military activity in the North Atlantic and the Kola Peninsula, home to Russia’s Northern Fleet and most of its second‑strike nuclear capability.

“We call ourselves NATO’s eyes and ears in the North, and that is rightly so,” Vice-Admiral Nils Stensoenes, head of Norway’s military intelligence service, told Reuters.

He also sees China expanding its presence in the Arctic, with Beijing laying groundwork to become a future Arctic actor, though “militarily, that is a long way away,” he added.

Beijing operated five research vessels in the Arctic Ocean in 2025, up from three in 2024 and one in the previous years, the NIS said.

“It’s still predominantly in the eastern part of the Arctic and less in our area. We see hardly any Chinese activities further west on the Greenland coast,” Mr Stensoenes added. REUTERS