During NATO exercises, Swedish and Norwegian military personnel lived in rented cottages owned by the Russian elite. These cottages are located near a military base of the Norwegian Armed Forces in the north of the country. This was reported by TV2, according to UNN.
Details
The publication noted that the Swedish and Norwegian defense forces have rented houses in a mountain village overlooking the Bardufoss air base, where Norwegian and allied units regularly train.
It is noted that the owners of these cottages are the Russian ruling elite and representatives of Vladimir Putin's party: the mayor of Murmansk, Igor Morar, and Viktor Saygin, who has close ties to the Russian military.The mountain village claims that they were not aware of the connection between the Russian owners and the Russian regime.
Eirik Veum, a spokesperson for the police security service, confirms that they are working with the Norwegian armed forces to clarify the circumstances around the houses.
When the landlords are Russian citizens who may be connected to the Russian regime, it doesn't matter to whom they rent the house. But we are involved not only because of the lease,
Neither the Ministry of Defense nor the security service wanted to comment on the specific area of the cottage, but the police emphasized that renting such property could be a security issue.
Recall
In March, NATO conducted a large-scale exercise called Nordic Response 2024 in northern Norway with the participation of troops from 13 countries. They practiced repelling an attack on the Alliance's territory.