Employee of the Russian Consulate General in Kirkenes linked to FSB

Nikolai Ruzaev, who serves as a security guard at the Russian Consulate General in Kirkenes, is a former employee of the FSB Border Service of Russia.

Before the temporary suspension of consular services in Kirkenes, Nikolai Ruzaev performed security functions. He checked visitors’ documents, opened doors, and monitored video surveillance. During the Russian presidential elections in April this year, Ruzaev checked the voters, entering their data into special forms.

FSB border institute

On one of Ruzaev’s old pages on “Vkontakte,” there is a photo where he is dressed in a uniform worn by students of the FSB’s Golitsyn Border Institute in Moscow. This image also features the current wife of the “guard,” Anastasia Ruzaeva, who worked as an attaché at the Russian Consulate General in Kirkenes. She is an employee of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and has the appropriate higher education.

According to information obtained from Russian online open source tools, in 2021, Nikolai Ruzaev worked in service unit No. 2450, which belongs to the Border Guard Service of the FSB.

Based on the same data, Ruzaev worked in service unit No. 9594, which also belongs to the Border Guard Service of the FSB. The unit is located at Vnukovo Airport, which is in Moscow.

Information obtained through an application that allows viewing how people are recorded in contacts indicates that his number is listed as “Nikolai Ruzaev border guard”, “Golitsyn course lieutenant” and “FSB Border Institute”.

Nikolai Ruzaev is often seen in Kirkenes when he walks with his dog. During a personal conversation with him, the Barents Observer asked Ruzaev directly if is working for the FSB and had the appropriate education. Nikolai Ruzaev replied that he did not work for the special services and had a civilian education.

The Barents Observer journalist went to the consulate to ask about Ruzaev’s involvement with the FSB, but the “guard” only wished her a good day without answering the question. Barents Observer’s email question to the Consulate General remains unanswered.

Norway’s Police Security Service (PST) confirms that there are Russians citizens in the country with a background from the security services.

“The Norwegian Police Security Service cannot go into specifics regarding our detailed awareness on foreign intelligence. However, on a general basis we are aware that some people residing in Norway have educational- or work background from Russian security or intelligence services,” says spokesperson Eirik Veum to the Barents Observer.

Veum makes clear “it is not illegal for an FSB officer to reside in Norway.”

“The background from FSB alone implies a risk of being a threat to national security, based on Norways relationship to Russia and how Russia wages war on Ukraine. Further assessment of threat to national security depends on individual actions and other circumstances,” Eirik Veum says.

In October 2024, the Russian Consulate General in Kirkenes suspended consular services due to Norway’s demands to reduce the number of diplomats.

This decision was part of a broader reduction of the Russian diplomatic presence in Northern Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Russian Consulate in Kirkenes opened in 1993, but amid deteriorating relations, Norway closed its consulate in Murmansk in 2022. Currently, there are two Russian diplomats remaining in Kirkenes, but the timing for the resumption of the consulate’s work is unknown.

Originally published on 1 October by Arctic Economic Council.

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