Norway's intelligence warns Russia may stage sabotage that could kill people

A warning from Norway's intelligence service

Norway's domestic counterintelligence service, PST, judges that Russian intelligence may carry out sabotage in Norway within the coming year, and that some of these acts could kill people. Inger Haugland, director of the PST department that handles threats from foreign states, told the news agency NTB on Thursday, 12 November, that there are well-grounded reasons to expect such operations. The methods listed include arson, explosives, threats and murder. PST says the risk is not limited to property or infrastructure, and that it has not so far detected a sabotage attempt against Norwegian sites.

Targets and motives

PST has established that people linked to Russian intelligence have been scouting Norwegian infrastructure and potential targets. The list covers arms factories, companies that work with the military, logistics firms and energy infrastructure, and the threat applies to the whole country, not only to areas near the Russian border. According to the service, Moscow wants to provoke social unrest, weaken Norway's cooperation with other countries and discourage Oslo from backing Ukraine. Justice minister Astri Aas-Hansen told Aftenposten that Norway faces its most serious security situation since the end of the Second World War.

Cyber incidents add to the picture

The warning follows a rise in cyberattacks and other incidents aimed at Norwegian institutions and infrastructure. In April 2025 hackers took control of a water dam in Bremanger, and water flowed out uncontrolled for four hours. That attack has been blamed on pro-Russian cybercriminals. In August 2026 the group Server Killers claimed an attack on Norwegian state services that disrupted systems for many days.

Russian naval activity near Britain

Luke Pollard, UK minister for defence readiness, presented figures at an international maritime forces conference in Oslo. He said Russian naval activity around Britain rose 41% in the first nine months of the year compared with the same period a year earlier. Russian vessels carry out reconnaissance near undersea critical infrastructure and escort tankers across the North Sea and the English Channel. A new initiative would bring together 10 countries, including Britain, the Netherlands, and Baltic and Nordic states, to deepen maritime cooperation and link uncrewed surface vessels with conventional warships. British concern centres on the Russian spy ship Jantar, which is used to monitor and map subsea cables and other strategic installations.

Europe weighs Ukraine funding and frozen Russian assets

Ahead of the EU summit in Dublin on Friday, 13 November, Estonian prime minister Kristen Michal warned that Moscow is trying to set a cognitive trap by asking Europeans who represents them. He pointed to António Costa, president of the European Council, and foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas as existing representatives, and said any talks with Russia should start from peace on Ukraine's terms. He also expected the coming winter to be very hard for Ukraine because Russia is striking heating, water and power networks.

More than 70 MEPs, nine of them Polish, wrote to Irish prime minister Micheál Martin, whose country holds the EU Council presidency, as well as to Costa, Ursula von der Leyen and Kaja Kallas. They want frozen Russian state assets placed under EU control to help secure Ukraine's financing. Kyiv estimates it will need about 70 billion euros more in 2027, and the letter notes that the existing 90 billion euro loan does not solve the growing gap. Most of the frozen assets, estimated at around 185 billion euros, sit at Euroclear in Belgium, which fears legal consequences and Russian retaliation. The proposed transfer would move central bank accounts and their liabilities to an EU instrument, with any losses shared among member states. The letter recalls that the EU used a similar approach for frozen Iraqi state assets in 2003.

Frozen Russian central bank assets (estimated)185

Existing EU loan to Ukraine90

Additional Ukraine need in 2027 (Kyiv estimate)70

Frozen Russian central bank assets (estimated)

185 EUR bn

Existing EU loan to Ukraine

90 EUR bn

Additional Ukraine need in 2027 (Kyiv estimate)

70 EUR bn

Data from the article text

Drone strike in Samara region

Separately, Ukrainian drones hit industrial facilities in Samara region, and governor Wiaczesław Fiedoriszczew reported on Friday, 13 November, that four people had died. He did not name the site. Ukrainian media say the target may have been the Samara LPDS oil node run by Transneft, which covers more than 216 hectares and has 71 storage tanks. Ukraine's general staff says oil from the node also reaches the Russian army. The facility had been attacked before, most recently on 2 November, when a fire broke out there and was recorded by satellite monitoring.