Vitaly Orlov, a Russian fishing billionaire based in Murmansk, has sued the small Norwegian paper The Barents Observer of Kirkenes in London’s High Court. NRK has seen a roughly 100-page claim, handed over without notice on 24 September 2026 by a representative of London firm Devonshire Solicitors. The newsroom has 35 days to respond. No hearing date is set. Orlov wants damages, the articles taken down and a ban on similar reporting.

The case rests on five pieces from 2025–2026 about Norebo, the fishing group Orlov wholly owns, and about EU and Norwegian sanctions. Editor Thomas Nilsen calls the claim a jumble of absurd allegations: the paper described Norebo’s activity and the sanctions; it did not invent an intelligence link. In the EU’s 17th package, on 20 May 2025, the Council said Norebo vessels had supported Russian actions against infrastructure, including undersea assets. That is the EU’s listing ground, not a finding by the London court.

Norway followed the EU and shut Norebo’s fleet out of the exclusive economic zone and ports. Norebo sued the Norwegian state; Oslo District Court is due to hear that case on 3 November 2026. There is also a case against the EU. Orlov is not personally sanctioned. He was once a Norwegian citizen and started in Drøbak in the 1990s; NRK estimates his fortune at about 15 billion kroner.

Through lawyers, Orlov denies any bid to shut the paper or scare journalists. He says the articles contain false claims and that the paper had a chance to correct them. English jurisdiction is proper, the claimant side writes, because Barents Observer publishes in English. Nilsen replies that only about 5 percent of readers are in Britain.

Media lawyer Jon Wessel-Aas sees a SLAPP: an expensive London filing meant to exhaust a small newsroom. Opening the case alone cost almost 135,000 kroner. Barents Observer has six staff, 6 million kroner turnover in 2025, and half the desk is on Russia’s wanted list. Fiskeribladet received similar threats without a lawsuit; former editor Øystein Hage refused to unpublish.

Nilsen and co-owner Atle Staalesen write that Orlov blames the paper for harm done by EU sanctions and, in effect, wants silence from now on. They say they will not be intimidated. NRK notes that of the many outlets that covered Norebo, only Barents Observer has been sued.

Image: JIP, Kirkenes harbour, 24 July 2013, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The newspaper’s town, not the 24 September 2026 service of papers.

Sources consulted: Eier av russisk fiskeriselskap Vitalij Orlov saksøker norske journalister og Norge — NRK Troms og Finnmark; Russian billionaire Vitaly Orlov’s lawsuit against the Barents Observer is absurd and dirty — The Barents Observer.