Norway plans to destroy key bridges if military clash with Russia occurs

Norway’s armed forces are planning to blow up several newly built bridges in the event of a military conflict with Russia, with preparatory measures already in place, according to the Norwegian Armed Forces.

Håkon Gjersum Helle, a major and engineer at the Norwegian Armed Forces Joint Headquarters, said that information about which specific facilities could be destroyed in the event of a conflict with Russia is classified, Caliber.Az reports via Norwegian media.

He stressed that such decisions must be “not very visible or obvious. The army official emphasized that destroying bridges remains highly relevant, as it creates a dilemma for the adversary, noting that neither precision weapons nor drones can restore an army’s mobility once a bridge has been destroyed.

Norway and Russia resolved a decades‑long maritime border dispute in the Arctic Barents Sea by signing a delimitation agreement in 2010, which ended competing claims over a large area and enabled cooperation on natural resources.

Since Russia’s full‑scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Norway has increasingly viewed Russia as its main security challenge, boosting defence and NATO cooperation while limiting most bilateral military engagement. 

Norway and Russia maintain practical cooperation on shared interests like fisheries through the Joint Norwegian–Russian Fisheries Commission, even as broader political and security tensions persist.

In 2025, Norway reported multiple Russian military airspace violations over its Arctic territory, raising official concern and reflecting tensions near their shared NATO border.

By Jeyhun Aghazada