Immigrants can be blackmailed into spying, Finnish and Norwegian officials say

Russia and China are increasingly pressuring immigrants in Finland to work as spies, often by threatening family members in their home countries, according to Finland’s Security Intelligence Service (Supo) and Norwegian author and journalist Bård Wormdal, who has written extensively on Arctic intelligence.

Speaking to Finnish public broadcaster Yle, Wormdal said that people living in Western countries can be coerced into working for Russian intelligence through threats against relatives in their countries of origin. He pointed to a recent report by Norwegian media VG that Ukrainian residents of Norway had been targeted by Russian intelligence recruitment efforts, with information gathered about their backgrounds and families in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

Supo confirmed that similar practices occur in Finland. The agency said in a written statement that Russia and China regularly try to recruit ordinary people as spies using pressure or money. “People can also be blackmailed into cooperation through fabricated criminal cases or by obtaining incriminating material about them,” Supo said. Russian intelligence uses ordinary people for simple information-gathering tasks, such as photographing military sites.

The pressure can also target Finns or third-country nationals who travel to Russia or China. “Travelers to Russia have also faced pressure and intimidation,” Supo added. The agency declined to give exact numbers but said Russia’s intelligence and security services are now “directing more intelligence collection than before at their citizens living abroad and the people they meet.” This is partly because European countries, including Finland, have significantly reduced Russia’s ability to run human intelligence operations by expelling diplomats working undercover.

Jyrki Isokangas, who teaches intelligence studies at the University of Jyväskylä, said that while blackmailing people into espionage is possible, ordinary immigrants or Ukrainian refugees rarely have access to secrets valuable to Russian or Chinese intelligence. “Russia’s method is to buy acts of sabotage or vandalism. Pressuring people into sabotage is probably more likely than pressuring them into collecting intelligence,” Isokangas said. Recruitment can also be driven by ideology, money, or revenge.

When asked what an ordinary person should do if pressured, Wormdal said: “Nothing. Perhaps the best advice is to contact the intelligence service of your new country if you face pressure.” Supo urged anyone in Finland who recognizes they are being pressured by foreign intelligence services to get in touch. “We can advise those who become targets of such activity. Our contact details are on our website,” the agency said.

The Arctic region, particularly northern Norway, has been strategically important for U.S. intelligence since the Cold War. Russia’s nuclear submarines are based on the Kola Peninsula, near northern Norway and Finnish Lapland.