A Russian company has been mining coal on Norwegian territory for almost 100 years.. Since the times of the USSR, on the islands of Spitsbergen, which belongs to Norway, the town of Barentsburg has been located, in which Russians live, as well as representatives of other nations.. A year ago, local residents almost in full force joined the parade in honor of May 9, which was organized by a Russian diplomat. Norway’s “dangerous neighborhood” with the Russian enclave was discussed in the YouTube channel of the opposition Russian media “Current Time”.

Journalists showed life in the town of Barentsburg, located on the second largest island of Spitsbergen. Terrain since the 20th century. , is under Russian control. A local mining company received 300-350 thousand. tons of coal (in 2023 - 100 thousand. t) and sent them to the Russian Federation. Investigators noted that the company is Russian, but for unknown reasons it is not subject to sanctions adopted by Norway due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Residents of Barentsburg are Russians, Ukrainians, and there are also Tajiks, the video says. It is also explained that the settlement is beyond the Arctic Circle. Google maps shows that the town is located 1 thousand. km from Murmansk. In addition, almost nearby, at a distance of 800 km, is the island of Greenland (which US President Donald Trump would like to “buy”). During the Soviet era, Norway gave this territory as a concession to the Russians for the development of mineral resources. The concession arose as a result of the so-called “Svalbard Agreement” between nine Nordic countries.

The Russian state company Arktikugol (Federal State Unitary Enterprise State Trust Arktikugol) operates on the territory of the town, heard in the video. The company appeared during the Soviet era and has been mining coal for 90 years.. The company employs local residents, of whom there are about a thousand in Barentsburg. In addition, there is an ice-free sea port, an airfield and all the necessary infrastructure.

Journalists cited the opinion of local resident Masha: she assured that the Russians of Barentsburg do not support the war and do not want Ukrainians to be killed. The video talked about some of the measures taken by the Norwegian authorities to limit the activities of the Russian Federation. For example, local officials recommended that businesses not cooperate with Arktikugol. As a result, only two ships with tourists enter the port.

" We have such a small Soviet Union here,” people who live here told reporters.

In Barentsburg, located 40 km from the capital of the Spitsbergen islands, on May 9, 2024, local residents, with the support of a Russian diplomat, held festive celebrations. The report, filmed by The Barents Observer channel, showed a military parade in which 50 vehicles took part - cars, tractors, all-terrain vehicles. On each car there are flags of the Russian Federation and the USSR. They were “covered” from above by a Russian Mi-8 helicopter, and the Russian diplomat’s luxurious Land Cruiser was driving ahead..

The authors of the report also noted that the male participants in the parade were dressed in clothes similar to military uniforms. The video explained that “almost all residents of Barentsburg” took part in the celebrations.

Note that Focus wrote about the sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation and its coal industry by Ukraine’s Western partners. In particular, from 2022 they announced a ban on the transportation of Russian coal. Meanwhile, in August it became clear that Poland was not complying with the restrictions: journalists spoke about fraud involving entrepreneurs from Kazakhstan.

We remind you that on January 22, Bloomberg reported on the actions of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is slowing down the introduction of new sanctions on the Russian Federation.