Russia is increasing its naval presence in the Arctic

Russia is intensifying the militarization of the Arctic, returning to Soviet bases and deploying new long-range systems.

The Kremlin is actively testing underwater platforms and conducting maneuvers near Alaska, seeking to turn the northern direction into another front in the hybrid confrontation with the West. The Center for Countering Disinformation writes about this.

Moscow is building a multi-level system of influence in the Arctic – from propaganda campaigns about the “stabilizing role of the Russian Federation” to the use of the Northern Sea Route infrastructure for intelligence and military logistics. Formally, this is presented as “development of the region”, but in fact it is an attempt to legitimize the military presence and create a lever of pressure on the United States and NATO allies.

At the same time, the Kremlin is trying to demonstrate a picture of “successful development of the North”: it is building logistics hubs in Dudinka, preparing the “Arctic: Present and Future” forum for December, and declaring hundreds of “residents” of the Arctic zone.

Experts note that the real goal of these steps is to create a so-called “Arctic pressure corridor” on the United States to force Washington to disperse resources between the North and the Indo-Pacific and increase the threat to NATO.

At the same time, the Russian Arctic program is facing setbacks. Russian transport ministry officials acknowledge delays in the construction of the fleet for the Northern Sea Route, delays in introducing the requirement for transportation “only by Russian vessels,” a chronic shortage of tankers and icebreakers, and a drop in actual cargo flows. Added to this is the dependence on imported technologies blocked by sanctions.

Such problems undermine Moscow’s claims to be a “leader in the Arctic” and demonstrate the gap between aggressive rhetoric and real capabilities. It was previously reported that Russia’s research fleet is critically outdated, and sanctions and disruption of supply chains make it impossible to renew it.

The day before, USM reported that the Swedish military had spotted a Russian submarine in the Baltic Sea.