Russia Heading for Permanent Naval Base in the Arctic
Russland råder over flere militære enheter som kan gjennomføre operasjoner i Arktis. Det gjelder blant annet landets tre brigader på Kolahalvøya, og en – ifølge Politiken – sannsynlig kommende fjerde brigade, i det nordvestlige Sibir. Her et foto av den russiske jageren «RFS Admiral Levchenko», som er en del av den russiske Nordflåten. (Illustrasjonsfoto: Wikimedia Commons).
Several military ships – accompanied by atomic icebreakers – recently set off for Russia’s Extreme North to deliver personnel and equipment of the North fleet’s tactical group, which from this year is going to fulfill military service at the New Siberian Islands on a permanent basis.
Several military ships – accompanied by atomic icebreakers - recently set off for Russia’s Extreme North to deliver personnel and equipment of the North fleet’s tactical group, which from this year is going to fulfill military service at the New Siberian Islands on a permanent basis.
This is reported by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
Russia intends to strengthen its position in the Arctic on all fronts: both military, political, financial and economic.
In April, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia will build a unified network of naval facilities on its Arctic territories to host advanced warships and submarines as part of a plan to boost protection of the country’s interests and borders in the region.
Large-scale expedition
The expedition left from the North fleet base, in the port of Severomorsk in the Barents Sea, on Saturday.
According to the North fleet commander, admiral Vladimir Korolyov, these are the ships that are making the journey; the submarine hunter “Admiral Levchenko”, two large landing ships – “St. George” and “Kondopoga”, the tanker “Sergey Osipov”, the rescue tug “Pamir” and the lifting-and-mooring vessek “Aleksandr Pushkin”.
The six ships are accompanied by several atomic icebreakers, provided by the Rosatom corporation. The route will be monitored by the North fleet aviation for any potential difficulties.
This is the third large-scale expedition of ships of the Northern Fleet in the Arctic over the past few years.
- Should be left outside of war rhetoric
Last year, ten ships went to the New Siberian Islands in September to deliver the first set of equipment and supplies to rebuild the base on the archipelago, which was abandoned in 1993.
During the last years Russia has been pressing ahead with efforts aimed at the development of its northern territories, including hydrocarbon production and development of the Northers Sea Route.
The country has also taken a numbers of measures to protect it’s interests in the Arctic amid NATO’s increased focus on the region.
A couple of weeks ago the news agency Arctic-Info quoted the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov saying that Russia is opposed to the militarization of the Arctic, and does not want this region to be the scene of confrontation.