Russian Diplomats Looking Into Detention Of Alleged Russian Citizen In Norway's Svalbard

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd December, 2018) The Russian Consulate General in Barentsburg, Norway's Svalbard Archipelago, is looking into the detention of an alleged Russian citizen in connection with an armed bank robbery in the settlement of Longyearbyen, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

"The Russian Consulate General in Svalbard is seeking to establish circumstances of the detention of, presumably, a Russian citizen in connection with an armed bank robbery in Longyearbyen. We have sent a relevant request to local law enforcement agencies. We have not yet identified the surname and the name of the detainee," the ministry wrote on Facebook.

On Saturday, the Svalbard governor said that a Russian tourist was suspected of armed robbery of the Sparebank 1 office in Longyearbyen.

On Friday morning, threatening bank employers with a Mauser rifle, which he legally rented, the 29-year-old Russian tourist purportedly seized some 70,000 kroner ($8,000).

The man was detained shortly after the robbery. The money was confiscated, and the suspect was transferred to the Norwegian city of Tromsoe on the same day. According to local media, nobody was injured as a result of the incident. The suspect has been remanded in custody for four weeks.

According to the NRK broadcaster, the robbery of Sparebank 1, the only bank in Svalbard, is the first such case in the history of the archipelago.