Russian noise from north to south – violence, bass and traffic offences

Economy and business: – There are people who cannot sleep at all. They are patient with the Russians initially, but say that houses and furniture are shaking and that children are kept awake, says operations manager Lise Bjørnsund in the Southeast police district to NTB early on Friday morning.

In her area, which covers Buskerud, Vestfold and Telemark, people have called from 17 different places.

– It is much more than there has been in recent nights. We have had the opportunity to send people to around half of the places, she says.

– It resulted in six reports for blocking traffic. Two drivers have had their driving licenses confiscated because the bus was standing across the road in an unmanageable curve, says Bjørnsund.

– The Russians had moved the party out into the road with smoke machines, and they created a potentially very dangerous situation, she says.

Friday is a so-called confined day. The Russian can thus sleep in instead of going to school – unlike the vast majority of others.

At a ferry quay outside Ålesund, the police received a report of a fight at 2am. When the patrol arrived, they were met by two Russian buses, lots of people and chaos, operation manager Tove Holst-Dyrnes told NTB.

When the police eventually gained control, two injured Russian boys were sent to hospital by ambulance. Two more injured boys were taken to the emergency room.

Also in Bergen, a Russian was taken away by ambulance after being knocked down at a function with eight Russian buses.

In Lunner in Akershus, a Russebus driver lost his driving license after breaking a double barrier line at 4 o’clock.

Russian groups are also constantly criticized for being exclusionary.

– It has slipped violently. In recent years, we have seen many examples of many being excluded from the Russian celebration and from the community. We can’t have it that way. We have to do something about that, Nordtun has previously told NTB.

There is still a week left of this year’s Russian celebrations, and many are probably hoping that the Russians will be more considerate than last night, which has been exceptionally noisy. Operations manager Bjørnsund sums it up like this:

– Much more than there has been in recent nights. And a lot more noise.

A particularly serious case took place in Drammen, where ten Russian buses were gathered – many of them on the road.

The police in the South West are far from the only ones who have had their hands full last night with Russian riots. From Alta in the north to Kristiansand in the south, the graduating students have been a nuisance.

The political pressure against the celebration seems to be increasing. Education Minister Kari Nessa Nordtun (Ap) has proposed to move the upper secondary exam to before 17 May. The aim is for the Russian celebrations to start on National Day, so that the graduating students do not spoil themselves during exam time.

(© NTB)