Russian warships ‘opens fire’ on Norwegian fishing boat in the Arctic

A Russian destroyer has opened fire on a Norwegian fishing trawler in the Arctic on 12 September, but this has only been reported on now.

The Russian warship sent a message to the MS Ragnhild Kristine and the Øystein Orten and his twin brother Torstein at the time.

The Russian warship warned, “This is a Russian warship, you need to leave the area.”

Orten did not comply saying, “I replied that it was out of the question for us to move. We had long lines to take onboard.”

The warship then fired a warning shot, Orten said, “It was a powerful blast, our boat was shaking.”

Lt-Col Vegard Finberg, told the Barents Observer that there was “nothing from our observations that can confirm any warning shot.

“the fishermen might have experienced the situation [differently].”

“The Norwegian authorities must put pressure on Russia so that they stop sabotaging Norwegian fisheries and shipping,” Orten told FriFagbevegelse.

Orten said, “I glanced over my shoulder to starboard, and the warship came at us at full steam.

“The ship stopped 200 metres [220 yards] from us, broadside on. It was rather intimidating, you might say. They sounded their foghorn for around 15 seconds to get our attention.

“Then they fired a shot with a cannon somewhere into the sea. The sound echoed through our hull, and it shook.”

The head of the Norwegian Seamen’s Union Kurt Inge Angell said, “This is unacceptable sabotage against Norwegian seafarers.

“An incident like this could easily have been avoided if there was a genuine desire to do so, for example, by improving communication from the Armed Forces and using more platforms.”