15 employees of the Russian Embassy in Oslo, declared persona non grata and expelled from Norway, worked for GRU, FSB and SVR. This is reported by Reuters with reference to the Norwegian Police Security Service.
According to local intelligence agencies, employees of the Russian embassy under the guise of diplomats bought advanced technologies, tried to intercept messages and recruited people to obtain information. The “real” employers of the diplomats were employees of the GRU, the SVR and the FSB.
On April 13, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry declared 15 employees of the Russian embassy in Oslo persona non grata and ordered them to leave the country “in the near future” — according to the authorities, the employees embassies carried out intelligence in favor of Russia. All the expelled diplomats were men and worked in the consular, trade and embassy departments of the Russian delegation, writes Reuters.
“We want Russia to continue to have an active diplomatic mission in Norway, but we do not accept that diplomatic missions are used for other purposes — to conduct covert intelligence activities,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs added at the time. Affairs of Norway Anniken Huitfeldt.