Norwegian officials reported that they seized a Russian ship in the Svalbard archipelago at the request of Ukraine’s state-owned “oil and gas”.

In 2023, an arbitration court in The Hague ordered Russia to pay $4.22 billion to the “oil and gas” company for the unlawful seizure of its assets in the occupied Crimea region.

After Russia refused to pay this amount, “oil and gas” applied to courts in various countries and sought rulings to seize Russian commercial assets.

The governor of Svalbard, in a statement, said that the seizure of the Russian vessel “Professor Molchanov” was carried out after a ruling by the regional court of the northern province of Troms on August 31.

The managing director of “oil and gas,” also welcoming the move, said that Russia cannot simply escape responsibility by refusing to carry out an international arbitration ruling. He added that they will continue pursuing Russian assets around the world.