Norwegian soldiers guard the northernmost border of the only official opening between Russia and Europe within NATO. The shock of the Ukraine war hasn't affected this region in the Arctic.
These soldiers carry assault rifles and monitor the Russian side of the Pasvik River using Russian-made binoculars as they patrol the waters at high speed.
The war in Ukraine has turned life upside down in this region, torn between a historical affinity for Russia and an economy reliant on cross-border trade with its powerful neighbor. It now faces the necessary vigilance against hybrid threats.
On both sides, observation towers rise above the canopy of pine and birch trees.
Sergeant Lars Erik Gaussen, sitting on the edge of a rubber boat, recalls, "When I came here at the beginning of the century, we played football with Russian border guards."
Now, the two sides rely on intense surveillance and barely exchange greetings.
The soldiers of the Pasvik Battalion conduct patrols on the river, which stretches half the length of the 198-kilometer border between Norway and Russia. They travel in boats, off-road vehicles, on foot, or in sledges.
Through this icy land, Andrei Medvedev escaped, suspected to be a member of the Russian armed group "Wagner," who fought in Ukraine, seeking asylum in Norway in January.
His escape was like a scene from a movie, crossing barbed wire and evading Russian guards and dogs chasing him, as he recounted.
Norway is the only European neighbor of Russia that has not engaged in war with it.
Lieutenant General Inge Oedegaard, the Norwegian commander of operations, says, "The conflict in Ukraine was a harsh wake-up call for many." However, he adds, "Military activity in the far north is somewhat stable."
Unusually, the number of Norwegian forces appears to exceed the number of Russian military personnel in the border area at present.
The normally deployed Brigade 200 and Marine Infantry Brigade 61 were among the first units sent to Ukraine, where they lost thousands of soldiers.
Lieutenant General Oedegaard adds, "We monitor their activities, and we have a good idea of what they are doing. But whether there are a thousand or ten thousand soldiers, that's not what makes the difference."
On the other side of the border, the Kola Peninsula hosts the dreaded Northern Fleet and the largest concentration of nuclear weapons in the world.
Despite the return of war to the European continent, Norway, with its pragmatic diplomacy, remains the last Western country to keep its borders open, at least on paper.
Storskog, the border crossing 15 kilometers from the coastal town of Kirkenes, is the only land passage for Russians to enter the Scandinavian kingdom and the Schengen area.
However, Gøran Johannesen Stetith, the head of the police unit responsible for this checkpoint, says that the border is not "legitimate."
Oslo practically stopped issuing tourist visas to Russians and closed its consulate in Murmansk. The validity of documents of border residents exempt from visas under a bilateral agreement expired during the COVID-19 pandemic as they were not renewed.
The number of crossers has decreased significantly, reaching 5,600 in June compared to 20,000 to 30,000 per month a few years ago, mostly dual nationals and fishermen.
Norway continues to receive Russian fishing boats, while the rest of Europe has closed its ports to them.
Oslo justifies this exception to the sanctions due to the importance of maintaining a crucial bilateral agreement that allows for joint management in the Barents Sea, the world's largest cod fishery.
Kirkenes is one of three Norwegian ports where Russians are allowed to unload their catch.
But this raises concerns in a country that has become Europe's largest natural gas supplier through an extensive network of underwater gas pipelines exposed to risk, as evidenced by the explosion of the Nord Stream pipeline in the nearby Baltic Sea.
A joint documentary aired by public television stations in the Nordic countries in April revealed that Russia uses dozens of military and civilian ships in northern Europe for surveillance of potential sites for sabotage operations.
The documentary reported finding wireless devices dating back to the Soviet era in locked compartments during inspections of Russian fishing vessels.
On one of the city's hills, a memorial erected in honor of the Red Army stands adorned with a wreath of flowers in the colors of the Russian flag.
At the end of World War II, the area, along with the Danish island of Bornholm, was the only part of Europe from which Soviet forces voluntarily withdrew after liberating it from the Nazis.
In a nod to the traditional cross-border ties, many street signs in Kirkenes are written in Cyrillic.
In the ground floor of the city's municipal building, a statue of a Norwegian lion dancing with a Russian bear is erected to celebrate the friendship between the two countries.
However, the mayor of Kirkenes, Linda Nordberg, says, "I don't know how much time we will leave it here."
Berging's office overlooks the imposing yellow Russian consulate, facing which hearts in the colors of the Ukrainian flag hang from trees.
Of the approximately 10,000 people living under the administration of this region, about 400 hold Russian nationality. Berging says, "They are in our ranks."
She adds that the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 left the population in shock, disbelief, and then sadness.
Despite being part of the political camp of the government in Oslo, the mayor initially objected to arming Kyiv. But she eventually accepted it.
The local economy in Kirkenes, heavily reliant on Russia, is suffering severely due to reduced border traffic, as it had not fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, Oslo intervened by providing 105 million kroner ($9.3 million) to try to revive it.
But the fear in Kirkenes is that young people will leave as good jobs disappear. Maintaining a strong presence in the area is seen as a sovereignty issue when facing an unpredictable neighbor.
Before COVID-19 and the war, Russians came to buy diapers, instant coffee, baby food, and other consumer goods, and Norwegians headed to the town of Nikel on the other side of the border to buy cheap fuel.
In Barents Secretariat, an organization dedicated to cross-border cooperation, projects have ceased. It has become almost impossible to work with Russian universities and other governmental institutions.
According to Marie Egholm Jacobsen, acting head of the agency, it will take "at least" a generation to restore the lost harmonious relationship between the two sides.