BORISOGLEBSK checkpoint /Murmansk Region/, September 8. /TASS/. Passengers and some crew members of the vessel Professor Molchanov, which was detained by Norwegian authorities, have returned to Russia, a TASS correspondent reports.

The Artikugol Trust, in cooperation with the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and the office of the Governor of Spitsbergen, arranged for all passengers aboard the detained vessel to be transported by sea and air from Barentsburg, the center of Russia’s presence on Spitsbergen, to the Norwegian-Russian border.

After completing the necessary border formalities, all passengers crossed into Russia and are now en route to Murmansk.