Norway likely won’t proceed with spying trial for a Russian citizen who was part of Russia-US swap

Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A senior prosecutor in Norway says that a Russian citizen who was arrested in the Scandinavian country in 2022 on espionage charges and who was part of a massive prisoner swap between Russia and the U.S. this month is unlikely to be prosecuted. Frederik G. Ranke of the national prosecution office told Norwegian broadcaster NRK on Friday that it’s no longer in the public interest to prosecute Mikhail Mikushin. He was arrested in Norway’s Arctic region, where he claimed to be as a Brazilian citizen, on suspicion of spying for Russia and eventually revealed his real name. If the trial, which had been planned for September, were to go ahead, Mikushin would have to be tried in absentia.