Ukrainian embassy meets Norwegian police: –

Ukrainian embassies abroad play an important role in the defense against Russian invasion because they are contact points for foreigners wishing to join the newly established Ukrainian Foreign Forces.

According to Norwegian Defense, 200-300 Norwegians expressed their interest in the Battle of mDuring the Russian invasion. According to Dagbladet on Wednesday, It should be now The Norwegians came to the fore in Ukraine.

Therefore, listening to the phones of embassies would be of great interest to Russia. It can provide information about volunteers – but also about other types of strategically important information.

Dockbladet learned that the Ukrainian embassy had recently contacted Norwegian officials and that they themselves were convinced that the Russians were monitoring them.

– Tapping phones

Dagbladet is also aware that the Norwegian authorities have this impression. According to Dagbladet, Norway firmly believes that Russian intelligence is spying on Ukrainian phones in Norway.

Dagbladet is also aware of a recent meeting between the Ukrainian embassy and Norwegian police. Both the police and the BST should have been present at the meeting.

The topic of the meeting was Russian surveillance of telephone connections owned by the Ukrainian embassy.

– PST does not advise other countries, says Martin Bernsen Dagbladet, a senior adviser at PST.

– Not in these times?

– I can not comment on that, says Bernson.

Dagbladet has sought the Russian embassy in Oslo for comment. Questions asked by email have not yet been answered – when Dagbladet called the embassy, ​​they refused to speak any language other than Russian.

Dagbladet was also in contact with the Ukrainian embassy, ​​which has not yet commented.

Announced

On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zhelensky called on foreign fighters to come to the country and join the fight against Russia. Authorities set up a separate foreign war battalion to take part in the war against the Russian invading forces.

But to gain control of the forces – and to carry out background checks on volunteers – all soldiers must register at embassies.

Dagbladet is aware that the PST was informed last week that the telephone links to the Ukrainian embassy at the Arbins Gate in Frogner were suspected to have been hacked by the Russians. Came under investigation in connection with Recruitment of volunteers from Norway.

Reminiscent of Pegasus

Dagbladet does not know what kind of software was used. But must have been similar to the methods known by the Israeli software Pegasus.

Pegasus can infiltrate almost any mobile phone, listen to it and retrieve its contents. The Israeli company NSO is behind this software.

The NSO has repeatedly said that the software should only be used to catch criminals and terrorists and has accused consumers of misusing it. The most famous case that this software is said to have been in use were the preparations for the assassination of Jamal Kashoki. Saudi officials must – According to, among other things, the UN – Used Pegasus to hack a close friend of Kashoki’s phone.

Dagbladet was unaware of previous reports that Russia had used the software.

Cemetery journalist Andrei Soldatov, on the other hand, argued in the independent online newspaper Moscow Times Last year it was feared that the Russians might not use it and, among other things, it could be used to spy on themselves – and the Russians may have created their own variant.

Previously, hacking should only be possible if the person attacking you was seriously deceived – for example by clicking on a link in an SMS or email. But The software is advanced enough to infiltrate any phone without the user knowing.