Orthodox Church of Russia acquired properties in Norway next to military bases in recent years
In recent years, the Orthodox Church of Russia has acquired some properties in Norway at a short distance from military bases, wrote the newspaper Dagbladet.
According to cadastral data, in 2017 the Orthodox Church of Russia purchased a building in the town of Sherrey (Bergen community), located three kilometers from Hokonsvern, which is the most important port and base of the navy.
Some properties were acquired by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2017-2021 in the coastal area of Rugalan. For example, in the town of Stavanger, the former priest of the local community of the Russian Orthodox Church has a property near the Unified NATO Centre in Yotto, Dagbladet writes. The property is located just one kilometer from an important military building, about fifteen minutes walk.
The Russian Orthodox Church also has a property in Kirkenes, on the border with Russia. Purchased in 2015. It also owned a building in Oslo since 1996.
Priest Dmitry Ostenin, who serves in a church in Chereid, responded to a newspaper question by stating that his church “poses no danger”.
“Primarily because I myself am Ukrainian. And I curse this war that Russia has waged against my country. My father-in-law and mother-in-law are refugees here in Norway. My relatives and the relatives of my wife to this day live there in the war with the bombing,” the priest said, explaining that many believers because of his anti-war attitude visit other churches.
Russian citizens who use small drones have often been arrested in Norway recently.
The Norwegian police announced the arrest of another Russian, whom they accuse of sending a small drone to fly over Norwegian territory, this time in the strategically important archipelago of Svalbard in the Arctic.
The arrest, which took place in Hammerfest in northern Norway, involves a 47-year-old man with dual Russian and British citizenship, said Finnmark County Police.
“The suspect admitted to sending a drone to Svalbard,” police official Anya Mikkelsen explained. According to The Barents Observer, he is the son of a “well-known Russian businessman” who is “closely associated with Vladimir Putin”.
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