Most recently, the Norwegian independent online newspaper AldriMer (Never Again), which publishes critical articles on the state of the armed forces, defense and security policy of the country, reported on the secret illegal mission of Russian special forces in the Spitsbergen Islands. The fake essence of the news was visible, as they say, from a kilometer away. We'll talk more about the essence of the fake.
Another thing is more important. Why Spitsbergen? We will talk about the relationship of the Soviet Union - Russia and Norway in general, and the role of the Spitsbergen archipelago in them, in this article.
History of the issue
During the Russian Empire, Russia did not have any particular problems with Norway. The Kingdom of Norway became an independent state only in 1905. Fishermen from the two countries fished, beat sea animals, traded with each other and used the Svalbard archipelago together. In Russian history, this land was called Grumant. It was visited by Russian Pomors back in the Middle Ages. The Norwegians called the archipelago Svalbard. By the 1920s, the situation had escalated for the first time.
On the one hand, coal deposits were found on Spitsbergen. For the first half of the twentieth century, this was an important discovery. To prevent tensions, on February 9, 1920, the Treaty of Svalbard was signed in Paris, which determined the international legal status of Svalbard. The treaty was signed without the USSR. Its essence was that Spitsbergen was transferred under the sovereignty of Norway, but was, in modern language, a free economic zone. All countries had the right to extract minerals from the archipelago. The USSR had several workers' settlements on Svalbard and on May 7, 1935, joined the Svalbard Treaty. Looking ahead, let's say that in 1947 the Norwegian parliament adopted a resolution in which it recognized that the USSR and Norway had rights to the Spitsbergen archipelago, but at the same time refused the USSR to build a military base on the archipelago. Gradually British, American and German miners left the archipelago, because the cost of transporting coal was very high. Only Norway and the USSR remained on Spitsbergen.
On the other hand, the situation escalated around the Norwegian fishermen, who caught fish and beat the beast practically off the coast of the USSR. Several cannon-armed fishing trawlers that became border patrol ships could not cope with such a wave of poaching. When they finally began to detain the Norwegian poachers, the Kingdom of Norway sent its coastal defense battleships to the shores of the USSR! Few people know about this page of Russian-Norwegian relations, but it was. The situation returned to normal only on June 1, 1933, when the Northern Fleet was created. Then several destroyers, patrol ships and submarines were transferred from the Baltic. Only after the Norwegians were shown the "novik" destroyers, which have an overwhelming advantage over the old battleships of the coastal defense,the Norwegian navy no longer appeared off the coast of the USSR, and Norwegian fishermen began to fish in neutral waters. Then the essence of our northern neighbors became clear. The descendants of the Vikings, who were engaged in robbery on the sea roads, never disdained that it was badly lying, and respected only strength. At the same time, they maintained quite friendly relations with the countries that were their neighbors. Such is the paradox.
During World War II, we were allies. Few people know about this either, but before the war there was a strong communist party in Norway. Several hundred Norwegian families from the north of the country secretly went by boat to Murmansk. The wives and children were evacuated, while the men stayed behind and were involved in reconnaissance operations of the Northern Fleet Intelligence Department. The groups of saboteurs-scouts were half of the scouts of the squad of the legendary Viktor Leonov, and half of the Norwegians. It should be said that after the victory in 1945, Norway was one of the three countries on the territory of which Soviet troops were located, and from which they were withdrawn.
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Cold war
Norway became a member of NATO. And a very important member. The fact is that the Cold War was also a war of submarines. The Northern Fleet, along with the Pacific Fleet, was the main one in terms of the presence of missile submarines. And they went from the Kola Peninsula to the Atlantic past the coast of Norway. So the small kingdom overnight became the most important member of NATO in the reconnaissance and search for Soviet nuclear-powered ships and missile-carrying bombers using the same route. NATO created the Farrero-Icelandic anti-submarine line, where it was necessary to take Soviet nuclear-powered ships to escort. Well, the entire sector from the Soviet bases to the Farrero-Icelandic border was under the responsibility of Norway. The country acquired modern at that time anti-submarine aircraft R-3C "Orion", radar stations and anti-submarine ships were built. In Norway there is a tradition to call their reconnaissance ships one name - "Maryata". The fifth is now serving. The Maryats were the curse of the Northern Fleet, they watched the Soviet ships day and night. The atmosphere was very tough, but there were normal relations between the two countries. Norway remembered that the USSR did not encroach on its sovereignty, and this was the most important thing.
Longyearbyen.
Everything was relatively calm in Svalbard. Of the numerous workers' settlements in different countries, only the Norwegian city of Longyearbyen, the administrative center of the archipelago, where the Norwegian governor was located and the airfield, and the Soviet villages of Barentsburg, Pyramida and Grumant remained. Coal miners lived in these villages. Of course, the Soviet Union, by and large, did not need Svalbard coal. Miners from Donbass were brought to Barentsburg on airplanes leased by the Arktikugol trust and they worked on a rotational basis. The cost of such coal for the country was fantastic. But they did it, because otherwise they would have to leave a very important place on the map of the Cold War. According to the Spitsbergen Treaty, the island was a demilitarized territory, but was actively used by the two countries for reconnaissance. Recently, memoirs began to appear on the Internet, from which it follows that residents of the GRU worked in Spitsbergen. They were officers in the fleet. Their task was to collect political, economic and scientific information, conduct radio intelligence, and prepare analytical materials. The Soviet radio intelligence center was located in the village of Barentsburg.
The village of Barentsburg.
XXI century - a time of global instability
The longer we live in the 21st century, the more we are convinced that our time is a time of demolition, namely demolition, and not dismantling of all international treaties and agreements. The future will show what this will lead to, but it is already clear that this process is proceeding by leaps and bounds. And all parties participate in it, willingly or not. Let's consider the main "milestones of confrontation" in the North.
"Fish" war. The reason for this war is standard. Two neighboring countries, whose economic zones border each other, catch the same fish, and at the same time have different requirements for the fish caught. According to existing international standards, if a fishing vessel is fishing under intergovernmental agreements in the economic zone of another state, then it is obliged to take on board the inspectors of this state. And inspectors with a ruler measure the caught fish, and if it does not comply with the national fishing rules, the vessel is delayed and taken to the nearest port, where the local court fines the captain and the ship owner for a large sum. At the beginning of the side went wall to wall. Fishermen were detained by dozens a year by both sides. The apotheosis of everything was a grandiose world scandal. On October 14, 2005, the Norwegian coast guard near Spitsbergen detained the Russian trawler Electron under the command of Captain Valery Yarantsev.
Trevor Noah, host of the American show The Daily Show, commented on the report on the discovery of a beluga whale with Russian equipment off the coast of Norway. In his opinion, there is a "crazy Russian design" behind this.
The charges are standard, two Norwegian fish inspectors disembark on board, the ship is escorted by the coast guard to the port of Tromsø. But the weight, as they say, has already reached the floor. The crew locks up the Norwegian fish inspectors and leaves in the direction of Murmansk. To say that the Norwegians were surprised is to say nothing. For the first time in the history of the kingdom, fishermen stopped for a minor violation, defiantly leave the coast guard ship. The descendants of the Vikings called a second ship to help and began a chase, which was broadcast live to the whole world. The Norwegians did not dare to shoot. They tried to stop Electron by other means. So, they pulled a cable between two ships of the Coast Guard so that the screw of the "Electron" was wound around it. Yarantsev skillfully maneuvered and escaped the trap. He asked for help from other Murmansk trawlers on the radio,and those prevented the Norwegians from maneuvering. The chase turned out to be Hollywood. "Electron" went into our territorial waters, the Norwegian inspectors were returned to their homeland, where they became national heroes, and Viktor Yarantsev became the mayor of the fishing village of Teriberka in the Murmansk region. But this chase served as an impetus, after which the governments of Norway and Russia agreed to unify fishing rules. The detentions of Russian trawlers have ceased. Unfortunately, this was the only example where countries found a way out of the problem.after which the governments of Norway and Russia agreed to unify fishing rules. The detentions of Russian trawlers have ceased. Unfortunately, this was the only example where countries found a way out of the problem.after which the governments of Norway and Russia agreed to unify fishing rules. The detentions of Russian trawlers have ceased. Unfortunately, this was the only example where countries found a way out of the problem.
Reconnaissance buoys. In 2008 and 2009, near the towns of Berlevog and Skalelv and off the coast of Andoya Island, buoys with antennas with a length of 3.6 meters were found, in which experts identified Soviet buoys for hydroacoustic control of the underwater situation of the MGK-607EM complex. This system still covers the bases of the Russian Northern Fleet. The Norwegian press, as expected, raised a wave of panic that the Russian submarine control systems also control the bases of the Norwegian Royal Navy.
"Sold base". Versia has already told about this story. In short, the essence of the story is as follows. During the Cold War, the Olavsvern underground naval base operated in Norway. The base was built in 1967 and was a tunnel carved into the rock for basing submarines in it in the event of a nuclear war. There are also such bases in Sweden and Russia (see the article "Military undergrounds of the Crimea"). The base was a very expensive structure. Time passed, the Cold War ended. It became expensive to maintain the base, and NATO agreed to the proposal of the Norwegian government to sell it. The funny thing about this story is that the final go-ahead for the sale from Norway was given by the future NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The base was sold, and in 2014 the Russian research vessels Akademik Nemchinov and Akademik Shatsky began to use it. The scandal was notable for the whole of Norway. But everything was legal. The Russians took the base on a commercial lease. It should be borne in mind that in the West there is a persistent, unshakable confidence that any Soviet (Russian) research vessel is, in its essence, a reconnaissance ship. This story, unlike the previous one, can be attributed to the "grimaces of democracy."
Radars Globus in Vardø.
The warming climate that is observed in the Arctic has led to the fact that wild animals began to migrate north towards the Arctic Circle. Some species have already changed their traditional habitats.
Radar station "Globus". May 2019 Radar "Globus III", is being built at an accelerated pace in the town of Vardø, about 50 km from the border with Russia. None of the serious experts doubted that this station should be part of an anti-missile shield against Russia, although NATO swore that this radar did not belong to anti-missile systems. But the unexpected happened. During a strong storm, the sheets of the radio-transparent fairing tore off and everyone saw, firstly, the antennas themselves, and, secondly, where they were directed - towards the border with Russia. Photos of the radar station with torn off sheets of the radio-transparent fairing, as usual, ended up on social networks. First, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced an adequate response, and then the press service of the Northern Fleet announced the redeployment of the Bal anti-ship missile system to the Sredniy Peninsula. It is 65 km from Vardø. The range of the Kh-35U missile is 110 km. Residents of Finnmark province in general, and the town of Vardø in particular, are very tense, especially since the Norwegian press constantly reminds them of the plans of the Russians.
"Russian special forces in Svalbard and Norway." Let's go back to the beginning of the article. "AldriMer" informed its readers that according to the data of the American intelligence structures, GRU special forces in civilian clothes were seen in Svalbard and in mainland Norway, which is conducting a study of the area. As usual, no confirmation has been provided. Spetsnaz was delivered to the archipelago on an ultra-small submarine of project P-650 "Piranha". The fact that this news smells strongly of fake is clear from the last detail. The fact is that the P-650 Piranha submarine does not exist in nature. The story is as follows. Just before the collapse of the USSR, two Project 865 Piranha ultra-small submarines - MS-520 and MS-521 - were commissioned in the Baltic. They were intended for the delivery of combat swimmers, and greatly strained the defense ministries of countries with access to the Baltic Sea. What operations they took part in is still a mystery. The Piranhas became famous for the fact that one of them starred in the cult comedy "Peculiarities of National Fishing". By the way, according to the plot of the film, the boat entered the territorial waters of Finland. Unfortunately, the boats of Project 865 did not survive the Time of Troubles. The developer of the project, the special marine engineering bureau "Malachite", has developed several options for the further development of the project. One of these options is the P-650 Piranha project. The irony is that the developer has been offering this project all over the world at international salons for 15 years, but has not yet concluded a single contract. By the way, according to the Svalbard Treaty, Russian citizens can come to Svalbard without a visa, absolutely freely. What is this whole circus for? We can assume the following. In September, off the coast of Franz Josef Land, a detachment of ships of the Northern Fleet consisting of the large anti-submarine ship "Vice-Admiral Kulakov" and the large landing ships "Alexander Otrakovsky" and "Kondopoga" practiced the landing in the Arctic. Psychological warfare specialists couldn't pass up such an opportunity.
Conclusion
All Norwegian defense ministers in the 21st century in their interviews unanimously claim that they do not expect a Russian attack on Norway, and that there is no data on preparations for such an attack. When asked why, in this case, do what the country's Ministry of Defense is doing, they shrug their shoulders and say: the world has become alarmed.
On our own behalf, we add that when all the agreements and agreements on security are dismantled, it really becomes alarming …
Andrey Maximov