Passengers and some of the crew from Professor Molchanov returned to Russia
The group left Barentsburg early Tuesday morning, flew from Longyearbyen to Kirkenes, and crossed the border into the Murmansk region that afternoon.
The return of the passengers and some crew members was organised through cooperation between Arktikugol, the Governor of Svalbard, and Russia’s Foreign Ministry, the TASS news agency reported with a video from the Storskog check point.
TASS had a reporter accompanying the tour with Professor Molchanov to the Norwegian Arctic archipelago.
The Russian bus carrying the passengers and crew is now on its way to Murmansk, a three-hour drive from Borisoglebsk, the Russian checkpoint where they completed passport formalities.
“Following constructive dialogue with the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Barentsburg and representatives of Trust Arktikugol, the Governor of Svalbard today assisted 69 Russian citizens in returning to Russia,” a statement posted by Governor Lars Fause said.
There were about 50 passengers and 21 crew members on board the expedition vessel, which sailed from Murmansk to Svalbard in late August.
Norwegian authorities had chartered an Embraer E190 aircraft operated by Widerøe. The plane departed Longyearbyen at 10:29 and landed in Kirkenes at 11:57 local time. The border checkpoint is just a 15-minute drive from the airport.
The arrest of the passenger vessel at port in the Russian settlement of Barentsburg on September 2 came after a Norwegian court ordered the seizure of the ship following a request from the Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz Group.
Naftogaz said the seizure is part of global efforts to enforce an arbitral award secured by Naftogaz and other group companies against the Russian Federation.
The Russian Federation’s outstanding obligations under the award amount to approximately $4.22 billion, plus interest and costs.
The arrest was followed by an outcry from Moscow and a flood of stories in the Russian propaganda media. Norway’s ambassador to Moscow, Heidi Olufsen, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry and handed a formal protest.
Professor Molchanov remains in port in Barentsburg. Russian authorities have said they will appeal the Norwegian court’s decision to arrest the vessel in connection with a claim by the Ukrainian Naftogaz Group.
The Russian vessel was hired by Arktikugol to shuttle passengers between Murmansk and Barentsburg this season. Prior to the arrest, the vessel was owned by Roshydromet, Russia’s Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring.
