'We Are a Threat to Him': Norwegian Editor Defies Putin as Half His Newsroom Makes Russia's Wanted List

A small Norwegian newsroom near Russia's Arctic border says it will continue reporting despite growing pressure from Moscow. Half of the Barents Observer's staff journalists are on Russia's wanted list, while colleagues face criminal proceedings and sentences imposed in absentia.

The latest case involves Denis Zagore, a journalist from Murmansk now living in exile in Kirkenes. He was added to Russia's interior ministry wanted-person database after criminal proceedings were opened over alleged involvement with an organisation declared 'undesirable' and failure to comply with requirements applying to 'foreign agents', according to The Guardian and Russian rights group OVD-Info.

Officials in Murmansk have sought his detention in absentia, The Guardian reported.

Editor Thomas Nilsen told The Guardian the newsroom would continue publishing. 'We maintain that Putin is not a threat to us, we are a threat to him. Free and independent journalism is a threat to any dictatorship,' he said.

Russian Proceedings Target Exiled Journalists

Zagore is the third Barents Observer journalist living in exile in Kirkenes to be placed on Russia's wanted list. His case follows a six-year prison sentence imposed in absentia on colleague Olesia Krivtsova in July 2026.

A military court in Severomorsk convicted Krivtsova of 'justifying terrorism' and 'discrediting' the Russian army. A criminal case was opened against her in December 2022, when she was 19, after she reposted a message about the explosion on the Crimean Bridge. She later escaped house arrest by cutting off her electronic monitoring bracelet and fleeing through Belarus to Lithuania.

News editor Farida Kurbangaleeva was sentenced in absentia to eight years in July 2025 on charges including spreading 'false information' about the Russian military and 'justifying terrorism'. Russia had previously designated her a 'foreign agent'. The Prague Municipal Court refused a Russian extradition request in May 2025, according to OVD-Info and Czech authorities.

Georgii Chentemirov, another Barents Observer journalist, was designated a 'foreign agent' in March 2023. In December 2025, he told Mediazona that a court had fined him 5,000 roubles in an administrative case over publishing the newspaper's material. It was not a criminal conviction.

Moscow Labels Norwegian Publisher 'Undesirable'

Russia's Prosecutor General's Office declared The Independent Barents Observer AS, the Norwegian company that owns the online newspaper, an 'undesirable organisation' on 7 February 2025. The office accused it of publishing 'anti-Russian' material and seeking to encourage protest in Russia's northern regions.

The designation does not formally classify the company as a criminal organisation. Russian law provides for administrative penalties for certain participation in an undesirable organisation, with criminal penalties possible in specified circumstances, including repeated participation, financing or organising its activities.

The Barents Observer rejects Moscow's characterisation of its journalism. It publishes in English and Russian from Kirkenes, covering northern Russia and the wider Euro-Arctic region.

Newsroom Continues Reporting From Kirkenes

As access to sources inside Russia becomes more difficult, the newsroom says it relies on open-source material, satellite imagery, flight and shipping radar, border-crossing contacts and interviews with Russians in exile.

Nilsen told The Guardian that people targeted by Russian authorities sometimes remove their names from public view and stop criticising the war online. The Barents Observer has instead displayed photographs of journalists on Russian wanted lists on a wall in its office.

London Defamation Claim Adds Financial Pressure

The newsroom is also facing a defamation claim in the High Court of Justice in London brought by Russian businessman Vitaly Orlov, the majority owner of fishing company Norebo. The claim concerns five Barents Observer articles published between 21 May 2025 and 7 January 2026 about Norebo and sanctions imposed on the company, according to the newspaper.

Orlov alleges the articles caused serious harm to his reputation and is seeking damages. The claim has not been determined by the court.

The EU sanctions designation applied to Norebo, not Orlov personally. The EU cited alleged links between the movement of Norebo vessels and Russian state-sponsored surveillance. Norebo disputes the allegations and has challenged its designation before the EU General Court.

Norebo told the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project that London was an appropriate venue because the Barents Observer publishes in English. The newspaper says the case could place severe financial pressure on its small newsroom.

Krivtsova, who was 19 when she fled Russia, has said exile has not removed her fears. 'It doesn't matter actually for Russian special services where you are. It doesn't matter if you are in Kirkenes, Australia or somewhere else,' she told The Guardian. 'If they want to kill you, if they want to poison you or capture you, they will find you.'