Norwegian media reports on an incident that occurred two weeks ago in the Barents Sea during the Russian military exercises Ocean-2024. They accuse the large anti-submarine ship Admiral Levchenko of attacking the fishing vessel MS Ragnhild Kristine, which was in Norway’s economic zone.
“I told the Russians on the radio that we should withdraw our nets. But a huge Russian warship headed towards us at full speed with its guns on.” – says the helmsman of the fishing boat Øystein Orten.
According to Frifagbevegelse, an Aukra fishing vessel with a crew of six was in the Barents Sea, north of Vardø in Norway’s economic zone, when the fishermen spotted a Russian warship nearby, signalling with a searchlight. Its captain radioed Orten, warning him that military exercises were taking place nearby and that it was best for the vessel to leave the area. However, the Norwegian fishermen did not want to leave because the trawl was at sea and needed to be retrieved. Then a warning shot was heard from the Russian vessel “somewhere at sea.”
“We were very shaken,” Orten says. “But no one was hurt.”
Following this, the Norwegian fishermen were forced to leave the fishing spot, abandoning the trawl net. They complained about the actions of the Russian warship to the Norwegian Coast Guard, where they confirmed the incident involving the Russian warship, but denied information about the warning shot. According to the head of the communications department of the Norwegian Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Vegard FinbergThey do not have such information. According to Orten, they ended up losing around NOK 100,000 in catches.
