This archive report was first published on 20 November 2019.
On November 15, 2019, Frode Berg, a 64-year-old retired Norwegian border guard, was freed from a Russian prison as part of a spy swap between Lithuania and Russia.
Berg had been detained in Moscow in 2017 following a sting operation by Russia's FSB security service and was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in April 2019 for allegedly spying on Russia's nuclear submarines.
"I was convicted of espionage but I'm not a spy," Berg said in a press conference in Oslo, adding that he felt deceived by Norway's intelligence service, E-tjenesten.
Berg claimed he was asked by an acquaintance, whom he believed was linked to Norway's secret services, to make a "delivery" in Moscow in 2014. He said he acted as a courier four other times without knowing what he was carrying.
Despite feeling pressured by his acquaintance, Berg said he tried to stop delivering the letters twice but was unsuccessful.
"I am disappointed and bitter about what happened," Berg added.
