Berge’s support for the orphanage may help to justify the Russian warfare, the human rights organization believes. Atle Berge rejects the criticism and believes it is based on Western propaganda. Berge is known as the founder of the company Ølen Betong, which was established in Murmansk in 2008. Now the Russian company is completely detached from the Norwegian parent company, according to Berge. He travels back and forth to Russia via Kirkenes and continues to run the company. Berge is strongly critical of the Norwegian authorities’ attitude to the war. He himself has thus chosen to support an orphanage for, among other things, orphans from the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine. – Indoctrinated in Russia The Norwegian Helsinki Committee is critical of Berge’s support. They say that the widespread abduction of children from Ukraine is part of the war. Inna Sangadzhieva is head of department for Europe and Central Asia at the Helsinki Committee: – No matter where the children are placed, they are exposed to “militarizing measures”. That is, Russian propaganda is being forced upon them. They have to dress like other Russian children in military uniform, and they are indoctrinated, says Sangadzhieva. Teddy bears in a square symbolize the children abducted from Ukraine during the war. The demonstration in Brussels last February was organized by Ukrainian refugees and the organization Avaaz. Photo: NICOLAS MAETERLINCK / AFP/NTB A UN expert has also said that the children are denied speaking Ukrainian or in other ways taking care of their Ukrainian identity. This is according to a press release from the Security Council. There have been cases where infants’ names have been changed, making it difficult to identify the child afterwards, according to the BBC. Over 19,000 have been abducted At least 19,546 children have been abducted from the occupied territories and sent to Russia after the war escalated nearly two years ago, according to both the Ukrainian authorities and the UN. Ukraine accuses Russia of systematically abducting children to destroy Ukrainian identity. The International Criminal Court ICC has issued arrest warrants against both the Russian children’s ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova and Vladimir Putin because of the practice. Sangadzhieva explains the Russian strategy as follows: – The aim is to show Russians that the intentions of the war are good, i.e. to save children who are not doing well under the “Nazis”. The children are used as part of Russian propaganda, says Inna Sangadzhieva of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee Photo: The Norwegian Helsinki Committee – Putin needs to justify this senseless war. Therefore, he needs children, who symbolize the weakest and most vulnerable group, who need protection. Sangadzhieva believes that Atle Berge will be a pawn in this with his support: – There is no way to check whether the funds are used as desired. But the Russian authorities can use information about the support to legitimize internationally that they are “saving children”, says Sangadzhieva – Berge should rather do everything he can to get the children back to Ukraine. Rejects “propaganda” All this is propaganda, says the Norwegian businessman Atle Berge. It was the local newspaper Grannar that first reported Berge’s information that he supports the orphanage. Berge does not want to be interviewed by news, but asks to receive numbered questions by e-mail. These questions were asked by news Atle Berge You mentioned to Grannar that you support an orphanage for orphans from the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine. How long have you provided such support, and how much is involved? What can you say about the orphanage? Where is it and how many children are there? What prompted you to start supporting them? Figures from the UN, cited by the Ukrainian authorities, say that 19,500 children have been abducted to Russia. What do you think about it? What do you think about the fact that support for orphanages can in reality be support for keeping children away from their home country? How do you consider the national and cultural affiliation of these children? He partially answers one of them – about what kind of orphanage it is: “It is a Norwegian-supported center for homeless and disadvantaged families. They also support disadvantaged people from the war.” He does not answer how long he has supported the center or how much he gives. news asks, among other things, about the abduction of children, and that he may in reality support Russia keeping Ukrainian children away from their homeland. Berge dismisses the questions as based on propaganda and hatred of Russia. “Hopeless questions. It clearly shines through that you are enormously Russophobic,” he writes in a message. Atle Berge thinks news’s questions about his support for orphanages are “hopeless”, and that the reporter is “enormously Russophobic”. Photo: Bård Wormdal – How stupid can the West get? “Norway’s position in this dispute is a disaster,” says Berge. He believes that Norway should have been neutral and only supported Ukraine with humanitarian aid. He is unimpressed by aging tanks and F16 aircraft delivered from the West to Ukraine. “They will never be able to make Ukraine win over Russia. How stupid can the West get? And Norway is among the very stupidest, to go so strongly against Russia, our neighbor to the north.” Berge claims that Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It has been partially correct, but the fight against corruption is a passion for President Volodymyr Zelenskyj. The measures are yielding results, according to the organization Transparency International: They rank Ukraine several notches ahead of Russia in their overview. While the situation in Ukraine is improving, it is about unchanged in Russia. Atle Berge with his lawyer Per Ristvedt in the Oslo district court when he sued the state for 140 million. Photo: Terje Pedersen / Terje Pedersen The defendant state, Berge, has also previously been highly critical of the Norwegian authorities’ handling of the relationship with Russia. He has explained that he was tried to be recruited by Norwegian intelligence, and that this led to major problems with running Ølen Betong in Russia. He went to court against the state with a claim for compensation of up to 140 million, but did not win either in the district court or the court of appeal. While Russia wants to make Ukrainian children Russian, the Ukrainians themselves are taking courses to cultivate their national language:
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Abducted from Ukraine – in a Russian orphanage supported by a Norwegian entrepreneur – news Troms and Finnmark
