Alleged Norwegian spy returns home after Russian prison time

HELSINKI – A Norwegian man convicted of espionage in Russia has returned to his native country after a Cold War-style spy swap in Lithuania.

Norwegian news agency NTB said Sunday that Frode Berg was flown by private jet from Vilnius, Lithuania, to Gardermoen military air base near Oslo late Saturday.

His lawyer, Brynjulf Risnes, told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK that the retired border inspector was relieved but “confused” to be back in Norway after been “in prison for two years in a foreign country under somewhat difficult conditions.”

Berg was arrested December 2017 in Moscow and handed a 14-year sentence on espionage charges for collecting information about Russian nuclear submarines.

On Friday, the 64-year-old was released as part of an exchange on the Lithuanian-Russian border together with two Lithuanians and two Russians.