FACT CHECK: Did The Norwegians Raid A Russian Warship?

Elias AtienzaAugust 22, 2022

A video shared on Facebook claims Norwegian warships recently raided the Russian frigate Admiral Gorshov.

Verdict: False

While the Norwegian military did escort a Russian warship last month, there is no evidence it has attacked or raided any Russian warships.

Fact Check:

Both Ukraine and Russia have suffered naval losses during the course of the current conflict in Ukraine, according to Oryx, an open-source defense analyst website that tracks vehicle combat losses in various conflicts. A video shared on Facebook claims a Russian ship was recently raided by the Norweigan military.

The Facebook video, viewed more than 65,000 times, claims a group of Norwegian warships raided a Russian frigate after it attempted to pass into the North Sea with hypersonic missiles. The video is captioned, “Norwegian ships raided the Russian frigate ‘Admiral Gorshov!’”

There is no evidence any Russian frigate has been raided or attacked by the Norwegian. There are no credible news reports suggesting such an event has taken place in Norwegian territory. The Norwegian Ministry of Defense has also not published any press releases detailing a raid on a Russian warship.

H I Sutton, a writer and analyst for USNI News, reported that a NATO warship escorted a Russian vessel off the coast of Norway in July. (RELATED: Did A Pentagon Official Say George Soros And Volodymyr Zelenskyy Are Cousins?)

***OSINT***

NATO warship escorts #Russian Navy ship off Norway.

The Ru ship is Admiral Gorshkov. It has been test-firing the new 3M22 Zircon hypersonic missile a couple of months back#OSINT pic.twitter.com/ukkJpQ6KdV

— H I Sutton (@CovertShores) July 5, 2022

“NATO warship escorts #Russian Navy ship off Norway,” reads the July 5 tweet. “The Ru ship is Admiral Gorshkov. It has been test-firing the new 3M22 Zircon hypersonic missile a couple of months back.” The report also surfaced in Express, though it was not immediately clear why the Russian ship was near Norwegian waters.

Major Elisabeth Eikeland, a spokesperson with the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, told the Barents Observer last month that a Norwegian Coast Guard vessel was tracking the Admiral Gorshkov during its travels. The ship was likely sailing back to St. Petersburg following its discovery, the outlet reported.

Check Your Fact reached out to the Norwegian Ministry of Defense for comment and will update this article if a response is provided.