The Norwegian suspected of spying has studied a bachelor's program in security and preparedness at the University of Tromsø (UIT, Norway's Arctic University), the university itself announced in a press release the day after his arrest became known.
"UIT had no knowledge of the arrest and has not received any information suggesting that the arrest or suspicions are connected to the fact that the person is a student at UIT," it states.
According to the university's description, the education deals with how Norway's crisis preparedness is organized at different levels. Students also learn more about how total defense works.
The man worked as a security guard at the US Embassy in Oslo, according to the Norwegian security police PST, which is collaborating with American authorities in the case. He has admitted to collecting information and passing it on to intelligence services in Russia and Iran.
In the fall of 2022, another person was arrested who had taken an interest in security research at UIT. The man posed as a Brazilian guest researcher and studied hybrid threats in an Arctic environment, but was later revealed to be a Russian GRU colonel named Mikhail Mikusjin. He was detained in Norway for two years before returning to Russia last summer as part of a large prisoner exchange.
