Russian arrested in Norway in possession of drones and 4 terabytes of photos and videos
A Russian man arrested in possession of two drones and a multitude of photos and videos taken in Norway was remanded in custody on Friday as he tried to return to his country, Norwegian justice said.
Vitali Rustanov, 50, was arrested in the Arctic on Wednesday at the Storskog border crossing, the only border crossing between Norway and Russia, while attempting to return to Russia with two drones and digital storage devices. The court decision, seen by Agence France-Presse (AFP), shows that Mr Roustanov, who has been in Norway since August, admitted to having flown the drones “around the country”. He had 4 terabytes of photos and videos, some of which were encrypted.
On Friday, a judge at the court in Vadso took him into custody for two weeks at the request of the police. “There are (…) reasons to believe that if the defendant is not remanded in custody, he will try to avoid a trial,” the judge assessed, arguing that the suspect had Russian and Israeli identity papers.
Like other Western countries, Norway, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, banned Russian individuals and entities from flying over its territory. Violation of these penalties is punishable by up to three years in prison.
The episode comes as mysterious drone flights have been reported near Norway’s energy assets, including near its offshore oil and gas platforms, which have led the country to become the largest gas supplier to Europe after post-war cuts in Russian supplies is in Ukraine to reinforce security around their facilities.
According to Norwegian media, a new drone flight was observed near the gas processing plant in Karsto (southwest) on Thursday evening. The police, who have not yet identified who or those responsible, have asked the population for help.