The National Security Agency and the Norwegian Intelligence Service partnered to spy on Russian politicians, resources, and nuclear capabilities, the tabloid Dagbladet revealed.
The two countries have apparently teamed up to monitor Russia’s activities particularly in the resource-rich Arctic Circle, where all three nations have a major economic stake.
Dagbladet worked with former Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald to publish the story, which was based on documents leaked by one-time NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
According to the document, which is labeled “Top Secret” and dated April 17, 2003, Norway provides the NSA with access to targets in Russia’s Kola Peninsula. Dagbladet did not publish the report in full but stated that the specific targets in the peninsula were not identified. However, according to RT, the region contains the highest number of “nuclear weapons, reactors, and facilities,” in Russia.
The leak is, in some sense, not entirely surprising as the U.S. and Russia have been spying on each other’s nuclear capabilities since the Cold War. The report did not indicate any sort of mass spying on Russian citizens.
While Norway did confirm the authenticity of the report, it was quick to point out that it was written by the NSA and represented an “American point of view” of the intelligence sharing agreement between the two countries.
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