MOSCOW, September 3. /TASS/. By seizing the Professor Molchanov vessel, Norway is telling Russia to stay out of the Svalbard archipelago, Alexander Stepanov, a military expert at the Institute of Law and National Security at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), told TASS.

"They're now making a bit of a hubbub in the West about Russia’s presence in Spitsbergen. The seizure of the vessel Professor Molchanov is precisely aimed at pushing Russia out of this territory. At present, we see that international law is being violated, and Norway is invalidating Russia's presence in the archipelago with its aggressive actions," he said.

Stepanov called the move a provocation that is aimed at blocking Russia’s maritime logistics both in the Baltic and in the northern waters.

"The vessel had an exclusively scientific and research focus and participated in rescue operations in the Arctic zone, which indicates that the vessel’s purpose was purely humanitarian. It is quite obvious that it was seized purely through pirate methods," he concluded.

The Svalbard governor said that Norway had seized the Professor Molchanov at the request of Ukrainian company Naftogaz.

The vessel has been carrying out regular cargo and passenger voyages to Svalbard since June 2025. The vessel made its first voyage to the archipelago in March 2026 from Murmansk.