Norway’s foreign ministry announced on Thursday that it had decided to expel 15 Russian embassy employees, adding that they were intelligence officers acting under the guise of diplomatic posts.

“The government’s decision is a response to the changing security situation in Europe, which has led to an increased threat from Russia,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “The officers in question must leave Norway as soon as possible.”

Norway, a member of the NATO military alliance, borders Russia in the Arctic.

“This is an important step to reduce the level of Russian intelligence activity in Norway and thus to protect our national interests,” said Norwegian Foreign Minister Aniken Huitfeld.

In April 2022, Norway expelled three employees of the Russian embassy for the same reasons.

Norway announced in February that it would donate eight of its 36 Leopard 2s, which are of the older 2A4 type, to Ukraine. He specified that he would also donate four escort vehicles, ammunition and spare parts.

At the same time, Norway’s intelligence service said in its annual report that Russia had begun deploying ships with tactical nuclear weapons in the Baltic Sea for the first time in 30 years. “The main part of the nuclear potential is located in submarines and surface ships of the Northern Fleet,” the Norwegian intelligence noted.

Warships of the Northern Fleet regularly went to sea with nuclear weapons during the Cold War era, but the modern Russian Federation is doing the same for the first time, the report said.

According to Reuters