From The Guardian, November 4:
Exiled journalists at the Barents Observer face growing intimidation as Moscow seeks to control media beyond its borders
The official newspaper of the Russian government is an unlikely source of recognition for a European news outlet critical of Vladimir Putin and providing sanctuary to exiled Russian journalists. But in May, two days after Russia tested its new intercontinental ballistic missile system nicknamed “Satan II” by Nato, an article in Rossiyskaya Gazeta prompted celebrations in a remote newsroom in the Arctic.
The story about how “leading global media” reacted to the Sarmat missile test referred to just a handful of outlets including the BBC, Reuters, the Associated Press and France 24. But among them was the Barents Observer, a small, journalist-owned online newspaper publishing in English and Russian about northern Russia and the Euro-Arctic region from a modest office in the north-eastern Norwegian town of Kirkenes.
It was especially surprising given that the publication had been declared an “undesirable organisation” by the office of Russia’s prosecutor general, and half of its staff journalists are on Russia’s wanted list.
Its editor, Thomas Nilsen, said: “We were listed among what the Russian government newspaper itself called ‘leading global media’. That was a very good day at the Barents Observer, because it means we had reached into the inner circle of the Kremlin.”
Last week the Norwegian prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, and the Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, held a call with Putin, marking a rare moment of contact between the Russian president and European leaders. Afterwards, Støre said there were “big differences in views” with Putin.
This certainly applies when it comes to press freedom. A few days later, the Nobel prize-winning independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta was forced to close, citing intolerable pressure from authorities.
A short drive from the Norway-Russia border and the only remaining legal land border crossing from Russia into the European Schengen free travel area, Kirkenes is a place where rising tensions with Moscow are felt acutely. But since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine the town has also become a refuge for Russians who have found themselves targeted by Putin’s regime – some of whom are journalists who have been hired by the Barents Observer....
....MUCH MORE
We've been linking to the Barents Observer for at least a decade and have found them to be accurate in their reporting. Among many others, this story-in-many-parts was retold in September 2019's "Russia's Spy Whales Now Under Tighter Security":
....Of all the stories that came out after the fishermen saw the whale-wearing-a-harness and realized it seemed pretty at-ease around people was this from one of the whale watchers who went out to look at the Beluga. First the background from the above mentioned May Barents Observer story:
....The beluga whale wearing a harness with mounts for a GoPro camera that first was spotted by local fishermen on Norway’s Barents Sea coast in late April is still swimming around in the harbor of Hammerfest.To which we added:
Making big headlines in Norway and around the globe, the locals name him ‘Whaledimir’ (Hvaldimir in Norwegian) after national broadcaster NRK made a poll asking their audience to name the animal. Today the beluga is stripped free from the harness, but is refusing to leave his new life of freedom in Norway. Experts say the whale will likely not survive without being fed by humans....
Hvaldimir? What kind of name is Hvaldimir?
Whaley McWhaleface should have been a lock.
There is some question whether this Beluga returning a woman's dropped phone is Hvaldimar or just some rando phone retrieving cetacean:
Here's the story and video of the retrieval.
Incredible Footage Shows Whale Retrieve Phone Woman Dropped In The Ocean
