69 Russians return home as ‘Professor Molchanov’ remains impounded in Norway over a claim by Ukraine’s Naftogaz

Sixty-nine Russian citizens who were on the Professor Molchanov, a ship impounded in Norway, have returned to their homes, announced Svalbard's governor. The group was originally set to leave the impounded vessel, but the governor stepped in, expediting their return "following constructive collaboration" with the Russian consul general in Barentsburg and representatives from Arktikugol trust.

Russia's Minister for the Development of the Far East and Arctic, Alexey Chekunkov, pledged continued efforts to secure the release of the Professor Molchanov, which Norway's authorities had unlawfully detained. A court order led to the impounding of the ship on September 2 after Ukraine's Naftogaz filed a claim. The impounding was part of Naftogaz's attempts to recover funds taken from Russia in 2014, according to the governor's website.

At the time, the governor stated the vessel would stay docked in Barentsburg until further notice and that the authorities, along with Arktikugol trust, would manage the crew and passengers on board. The Professor Molchanov is a research vessel specializing in polar and oceanographic studies, continuously traveling between Murmansk and Barentsburg since 2025.

This includes transporting tourists, scientists, Arktikugol employees, and their families to Svalbard. There were ten planned voyages for 2026. At Meduza, we uphold transparency regarding our use of artificial intelligence in our reporting. This particular story was written by one of our human journalists and translated into English from Russian using an AI model that adheres to our stringent editorial guidelines.

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