Tensions continue to rise after a Russian drone attack on the locomotive of a Ukrainian passenger train near the Polish border during the weekend. A Norwegian state secretary was among those on board or nearby, along with a former Swedish- and British prime minister.
Russian authorities have since confirmed the attack and their desire to target “railroad infrastructure in western Ukraine that’s used to transport military material from European countries,” according to the Russian defense ministry. Polish authorities had already called the attack an “escalation” and another “major challenge for Ukraine and potential future victims of Russian aggression.”
There were several national security advisers and former leaders from various EU countries at the Jahodyn station when the attack occurred just 800 meters from the Polish border. Among them were Carl Bildt of Sweden and Boris Johnsen of the UK, both of whom have since reacted and noted how Ukrainians live with such attacks every day.
Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that Eivind Vad Petersson of Norway’s foreign ministry was on board the train, but he stressed that the train still managed to arrive on time. “This is everyday life for millions of Ukrainians heading into their sixth winter of war,” he added. He was reportedly safe and back in Norway on Monday.
EU and NATO officials were also reacting, with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte saying the attack shows how desperate Russian President Vladimir Putin has become. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also called the attack another escalation, adding that “what Vladimir Putin is doing is dangerous. He knows that and it’s why he’s doing it.”
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, called the attack an attempt by Russia to frighten Ukraine’s partners. She stressed while arriving at a summit on the Arctic at Rovaniemi in Finland that Ukraine’s supporters must not be frightened, rather the opposite. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre was among those at the meeting on Monday, and noted Norway has long promoted strengthening of security cooperation in the area.
The drone attack comes shortly after tensions with Russia have also risen on Svalbard after a Norwegian court in Tromsø recently complied with a request to arrest the Russian cargo and passenger vessel Professor Moltsjanov in Barentsburg at the request of Ukrainian officials. That set off complaints of a blockade from Russian authorities, and Norwegian officials have since claimed they have done what they can to help Russian citizens caught up in the legalities around the arrest.
The vessel, seized as part of claims from Ukraine over war reparations stretching back to Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014, has recently transported Russian civilians between Murmansk and their Russian enclave on Svalbard at Barentsburg. It also transports food and other supplies since it’s become difficult for Russians and Russian goods to travel by air to Svalbard through Norway, which governs the Arctic archipelago.
Arild Moe of Fridtjof Nansens Institute brushed off claims by Russian’s ambassador in Norway, however, that the arrested vessel serves as “lifeline” for Barentsburg. He claimed in newspaper Aftenposten last week that most of the supplies sent to Barentsburg actually come on Norwegian vessels from Tromsø in Northern Norway.
Norway’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, aims to tone down tensions with Russia, well aware of how Russia can respond with sabotage, threats and cyber attacks. The latter seemed to hit Norway’s Parliament on Monday, when its website was temporarily down in the latest attack claimed by a pro-Russian hacker group.
The weekend drone attack near the Polish border is another form of Russian response to pressure after nearly five years of unsuccessful warfare against Ukraine. Russia, meanwhile, has also recently criticized placement of American missile systems in Trøndelag, calling it a “highly destabilizing” act from a NATO country.
NATO and Norway respond that it’s part of necessary defense systems at a time of Russian aggression. Norwegian troops are also “training regularly with our (NATO) allies, and it’s not unusual that our allies have various equipment with them,” a Norwegian defense spokesman told new service NTB. Both Norwegian and NATO forces are also often on patrol in Arctic areas, tracking Russian submarines and other vessels.
There has been some criticism in Nroway of the Russian ship’s arrest in Barentsburg, meanwhile, with commentator Bjørgulv Braanen stressing that it’s in Norway’s best interests to keep tensions low in the Arctic and especially around Svalbard. He called the arrest “a case of bad timing” given all the other tensions at present.
The governor of Svarbard had already reported, however, that Norwegian authorities helped Russians “stranded” in Barentsburg to travel home. He said already last week that 69 of the passengers on board the arrested ship had been taken to Longyearbyen on Svalbard and then flown on a chartered flight to Kirkenes, from which they could be taken to the Russian border crossing at Storskog.
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
