The Barents Observer

The Columbia Journalism Review visited the Barents Observer to take a closer look at our work, our mission, and the role of independent journalism in the Arctic European-Russian borderland. Read their report and discover more about what we do. 👇

“Norway sucks,” Trump said. But in the air, military cooperation between NATO allies continues as normal.

In a ceremony devoted to the 82nd anniversary of the Soviet liberation of Kirkenes the local mayor praised freedom and democracy and condemned authoritarian rule. Standing next to him was the Kazakh ambassador to Norway

Amid ongoing conflicts over access to fishing grounds and ports, Norway and Russia have reached an agreement on catch quotas for 2027 in the Barents Sea.

Rapidly growing shipments on Northern Sea Route as tankers seek ways to avoid Ukrainian attacks

NOW: Ship linked with North Korean weapons deliveries sailing along Norwegian coast

Rosatom subsidiary Energoflot Murmansk is seeking a contractor to build the infrastructure for a new shipyard dedicated to outfitting floating nuclear power plants.

The European Union says the Arctic is critical to its future as the climate crisis deepens, the security landscape deteriorates and economic activity expands.

Ukraine’s Naftogaz has secured court orders for the seizure of five Russian-owned properties in Oslo, adding to its legal action against Russian assets on Svalbard, including the Russki Dom travel centre in Longyearbyen, 62 snowmobiles and 15 cars.

Oleg Mikhailov, a former MP from the Komi Republic, actively reported electoral violations at polling stations during the most recent State Duma elections, and his campaign poster featured an anti-war slogan.

In military propaganda show, Arctic marines from the Kola Peninsula report to Putin about «liberation» of Ukrainian stronghold Dobropillia

11 days after he was detained, the charges against longest-serving Communist leader in Murmansk remain unknown

Four LNG tankers currently sailing together on the Northern Sea Route changed their names, flag states, and managers as they headed towards the icy waters

EDITORIAL: Russian billionaire Vitaly Orlov’s lawsuit against the Barents Observer is absurd and dirty

Growing drone fear on the Kola Peninsula: the Airport in Murmansk is recruiting personnel for new mobile air defence units

At least four NATO surveillance aircraft were operating west, south and north of the Kola Peninsula on Wednesday, as Russia’s military imposed new restrictions on civilian aviation and commercial shipping across increasingly large areas of the Barents Sea and White Sea.

China-Russia bilateral trade, which has increased by more than 30% in 2026, necessitates the opening of new logistical routes across the Arctic, say government representatives

Russia’s nuclear submarine industry is a key target of the EU’s largest-ever sanctions package against Moscow. The measures target the Sevmash and Zvezdochka shipyards in Severodvinsk, as well as yard No. 82 near Murmansk, alongside several design bureaus and companies in the submarine supply chain.

NOW: Oil refinery in Northern Russia under attack

Heavy lift carrier Ya Qing Hai Yang, which is heavily involved in shipments to Russia’s banned Arctic LNG industry, is awaiting orders in a bay a few kilometres from the border with Norway

20 years ago journalist and writer Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead in the stairwell of her apartment building in Moscow. Her 19-year-old granddaughter Anna lives in Europe, studies politics, and plans to devote her life to it. The Barents Observer met Anna Politkovskaya

Ahead of drills in Belarus, a military delegation from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has paid a visit to Severomorsk, the headquarter city of Russia's Northern Fleet

The city that hosts Russia’s Northern Fleet confirms that it has lost "at least 100 men" in the war of aggression against Ukraine. The actual number could be far higher

Among the participants in Russia's new military games for families is the Maksimenko family from Zaozersk, a naval town on the Kola Peninsula

A military exercise on Russia’s remote Sedov archipelago has drawn attention to major damage inflicted on vulnerable Arctic nature

Vitaly Orlov, the Russian fishery tycoon who sues Norway, seeks Arctic sway

A Norwegian frigate has test launched a RIM-162 ESSM missile outside Andøya, about 300 km north of the Arctic Circle

Only a few drifting icebergs could be seen as Russia, for the first time, sent naval vessels through the strait that separates Bolshevik Island from October Revolution Island on Arctic archipelago Severnaya Zemlya

Several ships well known across the Russian Arctic are suspected of involvement in weapon deliveries from North Korea

Only few days after the State Duma elections, the FSB detains leading election expert Aleksandr Kynev on drug charges. Colleagues say the case is fabricated and politically motivated

"The lessons are clear: hybrid warfare affects local communities, culture is under threat, and defending truth is essential," Museum Director Maria Smorževskihh-Smirnova from Narva, Estonia, said during a visit to the Norwegian border town of Kirkenes

Shipping along the Russian Arctic coast is bustling as the Arctic sea ice begins to freeze again

The organisers of Barents Pride in Kirkenes, Norway, say they do not want to put Russian LGBT people at risk. Meanwhile, Russian participants in previous years’ Pride events argue that they are capable of taking care of their own safety

Journalists from the Barents Observer spent the entire day outside the polling station in Kirkenes, the Norwegian border town, talking to Russians who had decided to take part in the “election.”

WANTED by Russia because of his journalism. An arrest warrant has been issued against Barents Observer journalist Denis Zagore

Vladimir Putin's luxury yacht, the Kosatka, has been transferred from Severomorsk, Kola Peninsula, to the Pacific via the Northern Sea Route, accompanied by the notorious salvage ship Voevoda

Who is making money from Vostok Oil, the new major project in the Russian Arctic? An investigation by Arctida and Systema points to an alleged relative of Vladimir Putin, a Forbes-listed billionaire, and companies linked to Western oilfield services corporations. Partner story by Arctida

People with war experience from the front lines in Ukraine are about to significantly boost their power in Russian legislative assemblies. Hundreds of veterans from the war of aggression are on the ballot in this weekend's elections for the State Duma and regional parliaments

Yevgeny Poddubny, a propagandist under international sanctions for his role in the war of aggression against Ukraine, has paid a visit to Sputnik, a base for the naval infantry forces located near the border with Norway and Finland

A flotilla from Russia’s Northern Fleet has engaged in an exercise that included the simulated conquest of a remote Arctic archipelago

Researcher Nikolai Zyuzev, who has dual Russian and Canadian citizenship, has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for state treason. According to the FSB, the academic from the north Russian region of Komi worked to "undermine Russian sovereignty"

Russia at the pump: Over the past month, tankers have delivered more than 320,000 tonnes of foreign-made fuel to the northern Russian port of Murmansk

A memorial stone plaque in the naval town of Polyarny, Kola Peninsula, includes 155 names of local soldiers killed in Ukraine. At least 70 of them were added in 2026

Big boost ahead of the ban. During the first eight months of 2026, gas carriers made 156 shipments from Russia's Yamal Peninsula to EU ports

The brand-new oil tanker Valentin Pikul and its crew had to wait almost three months at the remote Sever Bay terminal on the Taymyr Peninsula before it could load oil and leave

First known strike against processing plant in Russia's main natural gas production region, Yamalo-Nenets AO, some 2,800 km from the border with Ukraine.

Silence and respect as Norway's King Harald is laid to rest

🇸🇪 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 NATO reconnaissance aircraft had a busy day on Tuesday, keeping watch over Russia’s Murmansk region from both the north over the Barents Sea and west from Finnish Lapland.

Rosneft says the project Vostok Oil is part of a new Arctic oil province. Satellite images show unprecedented damage to thousands of square kilometres of vulnerable tundra on the Taymyr Peninsula

The group left Barentsburg early Tuesday morning, flew from Longyearbyen to Kirkenes, and crossed the border into the Murmansk region that afternoon.