Russia to Beef Up Arctic Military Infrastructure
The Russian Northern Fleet will deploy military infrastructure in most of the archipelagos and islands of the Arctic Ocean on the borders of Russia, according to official news agency Arctic-Info, citing the Northern Fleet command spokesman Andrey Korablev. "We plan to create a military infrastructure on virtually all of the archipelagos and islands of the Arctic Ocean in order to create a unified system of monitoring above-water and underwater environments," said Korablev at the "Provision of national interests of Russia in the Arctic" round table in St. Petersburg. In addition, it is planned to continue work this year on the development of new or neglected areas in the Arctic.
Putin Wants Beefed-up Presence in the Arctic
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia should step up its presence in the Arctic and challenge other nations in exploring the world's largest untapped natural reserves, days after it started shipping its first oil from the region. Russia's ambitions in the Arctic have for some time been raising eyebrows among other states vying for a presence there, but the Kremlin's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula is likely to put its Arctic plans under greater scrutiny.
Russia Reopens Arctic Base
As the race to discover and recover the natural resource riches locked in the Arctic continues, Russia has reportedly ramped up the competition as, according to a Reuters report, that country is reopening a Soviet-era military base in the Arctic. The report cited, President Vladimir Putin saying it is part of a drive to make the northern coast a global shipping route and secure the region's vast energy resources. Nearly 20 years after abandoning it, Russia reportedly sent 10 warships behind four nuclear-powered ice breakers to the base on the Novosibirsk Islands.
