The Norwegian Counter-Intelligence Services (PST) announced on Tuesday the arrest of an alleged Russian clandestine spy who they say was posing as a Brazilian investigator.
The suspect was arrested Monday morning on his way to work at the University of Tromso, according to Norwegian public television NRK.
“We think he is a stowaway acting on behalf of the Russian authorities,” PST number two Hedvig Moe told TV2.
Working under a false identity, “a stowaway is someone who collects information, mostly for their home country — Russia and Russian intelligence in this case,” he explained.
The PST, which claims to be collaborating with the intelligence services of other allied countries, will request his expulsion. Meanwhile, the suspect was in protective custody for four weeks.
At the University of Tromso, the alleged spy was investigating Norway’s Arctic policy and hybrid threats, the PST said.
The case follows several arrests of Russian citizens accused of flying drones over Norwegian territory, in violation of a ban imposed on Russians over the war in Ukraine.
Source: DN
