Newsletter: Like an Old Spy Novel

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HNN's investigative journalist Malte Humpert has closely followed the Russian shadow fleet for years. This is Russia's so-called 'dark fleet,' which is a collection of ships that employ covert tactics to smuggle sanctioned gas out of Russia's Siberia. 

We have now revealed a targeted operation by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), that has successfully pushed out Western officers from the Yamal LNG fleet in favor of Russian personnel. 

The FSB action establishes significant Russian control over the vessels in support of a possible covert cargo operation between European ports and the Sabetta terminal in the Russian Arctic. 

This takes place amid Western sanctions, Putin's war in Ukraine, and Trump's countless presidential orders. 

Defense news 

Several regional NATO headquarters responsible for military operations are to be established in the Nordic countries. 

The Norwegian MoD Tore O. Sandvik (Labor) visited Bodø in Northern Norway for the second time this year and says to HNN's journalist Hilde Bye that both candidates for NATO's new combined air operations center - Bodø and Rygge in Southern Norway - meet the set requirements. (Norwegian only) 

But while Rygge and Bodø's mayors fight for the air operations center, defense professor Håkon Saxi Lunde believes that the debate should move away from regional politics and take a look at the overall picture.

"We have seen too little of what this entails in a comprehensively Nordic and allied framework," says the defense professor. (Norwegian only) 

So, a lot revolves around security policy these days. Everything else seems to be drowning in weapons, punitive tariffs, hot wars, and trade wars. 

“Yet, there are greater threats than that lurking under the surface. There just isn't any place for them in the news”, commentator Arne O. Holm writes in his column.

Stifled research

In a continuation of the chaotic political environment in Washington DC, a new Trump executive order initially targeted the US Arctic Research Commission, only to reverse course days later. The Wilson Center, home of the Polar Initiative, has also been slated for cuts. 

UiT Researcher Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen rejects the idea of 'Arctic exceptionalism' and believes the Arctic mirrors the global power struggle between the East and the West. 

We have also published some very timely op-eds about pan-Arctic subsea cables and Canada's new role in the Arctic. 

Read about this and more at High North News. Follow along for news from the Arctic Council's latest event under Norwegian auspices, interviews from the Winter Festival in Northern Norway, and the latest news from the High North. 

Best, Editor-in-Chief Trine Jonassen