Norway accuses expelled Russian diplomats of espionage

Norway expelled 15 Russian diplomats on suspicion of spying, with most of them working as spy handlers or intercepting telephone and data traffic. The Norwegian Police Security Service believes that they were employed either by Russia’s civilian spy agency, the FSB, or by the GRU, which runs military intelligence. A senior officer with the PST declined to comment specifically on how long the Norwegian authorities had known about the alleged activities of the 15 diplomats, but pointed at two sectors of special interest to Russia: defense and oil.