Top Stories of 2022: Sabotage, Defense and Russian Gas

Last year's top story has the dramatic backdrop of sabotage, war, and conflict;

Back in October, damage to subsea communication cables near the Faroe and Shetlands Islands left much of the islands without internet access.

Subsea fiber-optic cables in the south of France were also cut in what authorities call acts of sabotage.

Military exercises and LNG

In second place, our readers found one of last year's many military exercises worth reading and sharing. This was in January, before the Ukraine war;

Cold Response 2022 gathered 35,000 Soldiers from 26 Countries in a Northern Military Exercise.

Russian LNG was a hot topic last year, and during the first nine months of 2022, Europe’s LNG imports from Russia increased by 50 percent.

That made it worth taking a look back in October in the article on fourth place: EU Imports of Russian LNG Sore to Record Highs; Supply Mostly from Arctic.

The benefit of hindsight

“I do not believe that what is happening in Ukraine right now will necessarily have a strong direct effect on the border relationship between Norway and Russia,” said High North Researcher Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen in March in what became the fifth most popular article of 2022.

On the rest of the top 10 list we find;

5. Finland and Sweden Prepare Response to Russia's Security Demands (February)

6. From Ukraine to the Arctic: Russia's Capabilities in the Region and the War's Impact on the North (September)

7. EU Sanctions Stop Construction of Arctic LNG 2 Modules in China (May)

8. Norwegian Foreign Minister about the Relationship with Russia: “We Cannot Manage on Our Own” (February)

9. Closes Well-Known Crab Fishery in Alaska for the First Time in 25 Years (September)

10. Conflict Spillover from Ukraine to the Baltic Sea and the Arctic (February)