On Wednesday, Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store blamed "foreign intelligence" services for being behind several recent "unacceptable" drone flights over his country, alluding to Russia.
On Wednesday, Norwegian police announced the arrest of a Russian — purported to be the son of one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's close confidants — accusing him of illegally flying a drone in the Svalbard archipelago, which sits as a Norwegian territory strategically located in the heart of the Arctic but holds a sizeable Russian community.
According to AFP's report, "he was the seventh Russian arrested in the past few days suspected of illegally flying drones or taking photos in restricted areas in the Scandinavian country, which shares a border with Russia in the far north."
"It is obviously unacceptable for foreign intelligence to fly drones over Norwegian airports," Store told reporters.
The prime minister's remarks come just hours after a drone was spotted near the airport in Bergen, Norway, the country's second-largest city.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, Norway suspended Russian drones or aircraft from flying over its territory. Breaking such a ban is punishable by up to three years in prison, while unauthorized photography can warrant a one-year sentence.
Despite the ban, several mysterious drone flights have been observed over Norway.
Russia's embassy in Oslo on Monday said "hysteria" in Norway was impacting "ordinary tourists." The Russian embassy adds that the ban on Russians flying drones is "unjustified and discriminatory."
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