"Two citizens of the Syrian Arab Republic not registered in the Russian Federation, born in 1982 and 1975, were detained during the attempt to cross the state border between the Russian Federation and the Kingdom of Norway," the statement read.
According to the statement, Russia's Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on the charges of attempted illegal crossing of the state border.
More than 2,000 migrants attempted to enter Norway and Finland from the Russian territory in 2015, according to a 2016 joint Europol-Interpol report on migrant smuggling.
Europe is currently facing a major refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of migrants attempting to reach wealthy EU member states through various routes. Migrants use the Nordic route crossing Russia to enter the Schengen zone via Norway or Finland. Apart from asylum seekers, members of the terrorist organizations, including the Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia), have been entering the European countries illegally, traveling along the same routes.
