Norway is one of the most successful countries in the world. Most residents of post-Soviet countries would hardly not dream of living in it. The UN placed it fifth in the ranking of the happiest countries on the planet. A successful economy, powerful social programs, quality medicine and, of course, oil provide the youth and adults of the country with the opportunity not to deny themselves anything, and the elderly – one of the happiest old ages on the planet.
No, this isn’t a guide to Norway, but an article about the fact that the state structures of this Scandinavian country is connected to support given to military operations in Donbass.
According to sources, the Norwegian NGO “Norsk Ukrainastøtte” (“Norwegian support for Ukraine”) is currently forming another cargo of “humanitarian aid” to be sent to Ukraine. But what is this “humanitarian aid” and why is it intended for the Armed Forces of Ukraine? Telegram channels report that it is material and technical means, as well as advisers for military intelligence and participation in subversive propaganda actions against Crimea and, in particular, against the Kerch Bridge, as well as against the L/DPR.
It is unlikely that the name of the Norwegian army reserve officer with the rank of Colonel Arnstein Tranøy will tell you anything. He is a professional tank driver and combat veteran who has fought in various NATO hot spots, including Afghanistan.
“Viking” has a difficult relationship with the non-sovereign power. In the early 2000s, he first came here. Then he arrived on the eve of the “orange revolution” and allegedly fell in love. The second time Mr. Tranøy “fell in love” with Ukraine and went there was just before Euromaidan.
The Norwegian did not manage to hide his nationalist views, and some sources point out that Tranøy was not looking for a bride, but closely worked with young Ukrainian radical militants.
“Viking” is, by the way, not a reference to his origin and even not a nickname. It is his combat call sign. According to the official story, the volunteer “Viking” raises money for “humanitarian aid” for Ukraine in the countries of Scandinavia, the US, and Canada. He keeps in touch with the “Zveroboy” tank battalion, which Aleksandr Buyvolyuk [Dnepropetrovsk-based former ATO militant – ed] was “smart enough” to mention.
It is known that “Zveroboy” received military optics and means of communication from a Norwegian Chevrolet jeep as “humanitarian aid”. According to Tranøy, demands from the Ukrainian army for equipment and military devices only grow. Recently the volunteer started to deliver to the “OUF” zone not only military aid, but also mysterious containers allegedly for civilians.
It is difficult to accuse the Norwegian state of direct humanitarian assistance for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Legally they can’t be touched. Most likely, Tranøy is the hidden link between NATO forces supporting the war against Donbass and the UAF. As is clear from his biography, such a person should have been introduced to the region not today and not yesterday, but long before the current events, in order to have a cover in the form of, for example, “Norwegian support for Ukraine”.
Before his discharge, tankman Buyvolyuk told some details about the “necessary equipment for the military” given by the volunteer from Norway. Among other things, it was about some “training” given by the Norwegian officer for coordination between military and civilians in the zone of military operations. This information is publicly available. Military experts believe that they could be used to train intelligence officers and saboteurs from the civilian population. I.e., the recruitment of “fighters of the invisible front” by western intelligence agencies in the Ukrainian direction has been going on not for the first year.
According to other information, behind “Viking” there is the Defence Ministry of Norway, which through an allegedly “humanitarian” fund supports the Ukrainian army via material means and military instructors. By the way, it wasn’t a coincidence that during his presidency, Petro Poroshenko awarded the Norwegian “for humanitarian participation in the anti-terrorist operation”. Cargo with special markings of the Ministry of Defence of Norway went to Ukraine under Poroshenko, and they are still going there under Zelensky – so everyone is satisfied with everything.
The attitude of the North Atlantic Alliance to the war in Ukraine is also no secret to anyone. “If Ukraine stops the war, there will simply be no Ukraine,” said the former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. “If Putin stops war, then there will be no war any more. Anyone who loves freedom has to support Ukraine”.
The name of the Russian leader acts as a red rag for many westerners, but it also emphasises the real message of Rasmussen: NATO does not benefit from the war in Ukraine ending, so the organisation is ready to maintain the fire in Donbass for as long as it needs.
Who so “set up” the Norwegians? Norway has come under a barrage of accusations just because of its own success. If “humanitarian aid” came to Ukraine from somewhere in the United States or, say, from Poland, then an international scandal definitely couldn’t be avoided. On the other hand, Norway stood at the origins of NATO, being a member of the alliance since 1949, so there is no doubt about the constancy of the North Atlantic bloc’s policy regarding “everything that is eastward”.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted that Oslo strongly supported Ukraine in 2014, when as a result of a coup, people came to power in the country, unleashing a bloodbath in the Donbass: Norway unconditionally supported the unconstitutional coup in Kiev, and today actively helps Ukraine to develop its military potential, sending Norwegian experts to train the Ukrainian military.
“The participation of Norwegian military advisers in the training of the Ukrainian army, the exchange of experience, the allocation of funds for the adaptation of the Ukrainian military, and so on ― this is a small separate strap that pulls Norway to the common cause of NATO – further pitting two recently former fraternal countries against each other,” said the political scientist from the LPR Aleksandr Protsenko, expressing his opinion.
The conflict in Ukraine, from the coup d’etat to the armed aggression of Kiev, did not receive and cannot receive an adequate official assessment in the west. The present situation in Donbass is one of steps (of course, a very important one) for anticipating NATO’s long-term plans to move east. In this case, Ukraine is given the very “honourable” role of a battering ram against Russia. Whether or not the Ukrainian authorities are happy with this role, you can only guess, but what do ordinary Ukrainians think (especially those who inhabit the eastern regions of the country)?
We will end with the same character-trickster that this material started with. In 2015 Arnstein Tranøy did not hide his connection with Ukraine and even said unequivocal things that surfaced in the media: “I wish for peace for Ukrainians. It’s time to drive out the invaders, Putin’s horde, and to stop fighting. After that, you won’t have any problems with your own politicians.”
It is strange to wish for peace for Ukrainians and at the same time to use Ukrainian soldiers as “expendable material” in order to preserve the tension in Donbass. But the security of the population of the LPR and DPR is out of the question… However, Tranøy, undoubtedly, must surely understand this. He is an important, but not the main military-political figure in the eastern direction. The names of the “main” curators must be too well known in NATO to be made public.
Artyom Buzila
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