A Russia soldier who illegally crossed the border into Norway just before the weekend has now sought asylum. Norwegian police were still working on Saturday to verify the information he’s given after being arrested on Friday.
There’s no lack of warnings posted along the river separating Russia and Norway near Grense Jakobselv in northeastern Finnmark. It’s even illegal to throw rocks across the border, as some tourists have found out over the years. The red-and-green border post on the other side of the river marks Russian territory. PHOTO: NewsinEnglish.no/Morten Møst
The man was arrested shortly after he apparently waded over the river that separates Norway from Russia near Grense Jakobselv, northeast of Kirkenes. He’s been in police custody through the weekend and been undergoing questioning.
“I now expect he will go though the ordinary asylum process,” Trond Biti, the defense attorney appointed to represent him, told newspaper Dagbladet. Police later confirmed that the man had sought protection through the asylum institute. The Finnmark Police District will transfer his case to the state police unit dealing with immigration and asylum issues.
The border between Norway and Russia is under constant military patrol. Border guards alerted police on Friday morning that someone had illegally entered the country, drones were launched to help find him, and he was then taken into custody.
“He has been a Russian soldier,” Biti told newspaper VG on Saturday. “He has been in Ukraine and made the decision that he no long wanted to take part in more warfare. Then he made the decision to go to Norway.”
Biti described him as a “conscientious objector” to Russia’s war on Ukraine. Police said he was arrested without drama but declined to offer more information about his motive for illegally crossing the border into Norway.
Norway’s state police intelligence agency PST has been informed of the man’s defection. PST called it a “routine” orientation and had no further comment, although there’s always a chance such defections can involve attempted espionage.
It’s not the first time a Russian soldier has crossed the border in Finnmark and sought asylum in Norway. In January 2023 a man who claimed to be a soldier-for-hire in the Wagner group at the time made a dramatic winter crossing over the frozen river farther south in the Pasvik valley, where it’s much wider. Three men crossed the river at Pasvik later that year and a fifth man also crossed in the autumn of 2023 near Grense Jakobselv.
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
