How the Ukraine war is dividing once-united communities

Zadewasser runs the Restaurant Kroa in Longyearbyen, a town where the war is dividing communities after long years of neighbourly coexistence between Russians and Norwegians. Photos: dpa

A blue and yellow flag obscures a large bust of Vladimir Lenin that was gifted to the islanders in happier times: Even in the Arctic wilds, support for Ukraine in its fight against Kremlin oppression is tangible.

After decades of peaceful coexistence in the coal-mining centre of Spitsbergen – today also called Svalbard – Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year has driven a wedge between the archipelago's Norwegian and Russian inhabitants.