The New York Times reports:

For the past several days, Norwegian security services had been tracking a Russian research ship.

It was cruising around Svalbard, an icy archipelago high in the Arctic near the North Pole that Norway controls but is governed by a one-of-a-kind treaty that gives the Russians access.

On Wednesday, the Norwegians pounced.

Armed with a court order that is part of a global effort to recover Russian assets, Norwegian police officers boarded the ship while it was docked in Barentsburg, a tiny Russian outpost in Svalbard. The officers confronted the captain of the ship, a somewhat clunky, 200-foot-long oceanographic vessel, and announced that they were “arresting” it.

The impounded ship was part of a broader effort to enforce an international court judgment ordering Russia to pay a Ukrainian energy company, Naftogaz, more than $4 billion for seizing that company’s assets in Crimea. The ship, owned by the Russian government and called Professor Molchanov, after a famous Russian scientist, is now prohibited from leaving Barentsburg until Norwegian courts decide what to do next.

“We have only acted as a messenger,” said Lars Fause, the governor of Svalbard.

He added that it was the first time Norway had taken action like this in Svalbard. The Russians quickly denounced it, with the foreign ministry spokeswoman calling it “piracy.” But the bold move fits neatly with the shifting geopolitics in this part of the Arctic and Norway’s increasingly aggressive stance. [Continue reading…]