Russian Military Moves In The Arctic Are Of Concern To The United States And Nato

“This is a typical Russian project,” Finnish Lt. Gen. Pekka Toveri told Yahoo News. “Western activity in the Arctic was very mild.” In March, however, NATO conducted a “Cold Response Exercise” in Norway. With 35,000 fighters from 28 countries, it was NATO’s largest exercise in the Arctic in 30 years. However, the alliance, unlike Russia, has no new plans for permanent forces or military bases in the region, Toveri said, acknowledging that “more patrols and more exercises have given Russia reason to point the finger and claim that The West is the problem. “ Russian soldiers fighting in Mariupol, Ukraine. (Alexander Nemenov / AFP via Getty Images) Western experts say Russia, the largest of the seven countries that surround the Arctic, is behind militarization in the mineral-rich region, which accounts for 20 percent of Russia’s GDP. Over the past decade, the Kremlin has been renovating closed Soviet bases, forming a necklace of dozens of defensive outposts (some estimated over 50) from the Barents Sea on land near Alaska and building new facilities such as the state-of-the-art Trefoil. its northernmost base, which became fully operational last year. The US and NATO have looked on with surprise as Russia has set up a new “Arctic administration” and four new Arctic brigades, refurbished airports and deep-water ports and continues to launch fake military strikes in the Nordic countries amid GPS interference and radio NATO high schools. It is also testing “innovative weapons systems” in the Arctic, according to the State Department. “We have seen increased Russian military activity in the Arctic for some time,” a senior State Department official told Yahoo News. However, the situation is escalating, and not just because Russia continues to test new supersonic weapons in the Arctic, launching a supersonic missile there, just days after Korchunov made his remarks. Before the end of the year, the State Department official added, Russia plans to conduct 19 more tests, including new weapons. “Seeing Russia’s aggressive and unpredictable behavior, especially after the invasion of Ukraine, has really heightened concerns about Russian activity,” he said in the High North, the official said. The story goes on With relations between Moscow and Western governments the coldest in decades due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, analysts are wondering if the Arctic will become the next gunpowder depot. The expansion of Russian bases, arms tests and the strengthening of human resources in the Arctic come as Finland and Sweden have applied to join NATO. If accepted, it would further isolate Russia in the Arctic, making it the only non-NATO country in the region, further enhancing the chances of unintended incidents, analysts say. The author of the recently published report, “The Militarization of Russian Polar Policy,” Mathieu Boulègue, a researcher on the Russia-Eurasia Program at Chatham House, told Yahoo News that his biggest fear is a nuclear accident in the region. “If you look at the long list of nuclear resources – whether they are icebreakers, strategic submarines, floating nuclear power plants or spent fuel – there is a high risk of nuclear accidents,” he said. “Incidents like this are mitigated in peacetime, when you talk to different stakeholders. But the problem is that we are not really talking [with] Russia very well these days. “This further increases the risk of miscalculations and errors.” The Kola Peninsula, for example, a Russian-sized Kentucky-sized Russian landmass near Finland, is the most nucleated part of the planet. Headquartered in Russia’s Northern Fleet, which accounts for two-thirds of Russia’s naval nuclear capabilities for a second strike, the Kola Peninsula marks the entrance to the Russian Arctic and has three military bases and nuclear weapons depots. A new supersonic cruise missile is launched by a Russian Navy frigate from the Barents Sea. (Press Service of the Russian Ministry of Defense via AP) Another third of Russia’s nuclear weapons at sea, however, are located at the eastern tip of the Arctic, Boulègue added – with the Russian Pacific Fleet based in Vladivostok, but some vessels are based in Kamchatka, just opposite Alaska. These facilities could create future problems for the United States, Boulègue said, creating “a point of tension if Russia decides to challenge US access to the Arctic.” Ian Williams, deputy director of the Missile Defense Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, also points to the island of Wrangel – 300 miles from Alaska – where Russia has installed a new air search radar system and may be airborne and may refurbish. in eastern Siberia. “They have a lot of places to put things if they want to threaten Alaska,” he said. Growing concern about Russian activities in the Arctic, which seeks a new North Sea route made possible by melting ice due to climate change, has prompted the US military to reconsider its strategies in the Arctic. Last year, the Army released “Regaining Arctic Dominance,” its first strategic plan for the Far North. Army personnel also began training more frequently in Alaska, learning to fight in brutal polar climates – where temperatures can drop to minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The U.S. Navy is maneuvering in the Arctic with ships and submarines and more – and the Air Force is sending most of its F-35s to Alaska, saying the state “will host more advanced fighters than anywhere else in the world.” Congress has approved funding for six new “icebreakers,” ships that can plow into icy waters. And new satellites designed to boost polar communications and offer new “eyes” to Russia are being launched, along with new radar systems being built from Alaska to Denmark. An icebreaker cuts a route for a cargo ship near Nagurskoye, Russia. (Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP) All these moves are welcomed by Toveri, who believes that the West can not appease Putin and expect “to have the dividend of peace since the Cold War.” He added that after the fall of the Soviet Union, many Nordic countries, including Sweden, reduced their military forces and reduced their spending, while countries such as Denmark shut down their missile defense radar systems, which they were rebuilding. Such moves, however, are troubling Russia, which considers them provocative. Earlier this year, Russian spy planes violated Swedish and Danish airspace. In March 2018 and February 2019, Russian bombers, for example, targeted Norway’s Globus radar system with fake air strikes, barrels on vaulted structures before turning sharply back. However, Russia’s problems with Norway go far beyond its espionage activities. The Norwegian Svalbard archipelago, located midway between Russia and Greenland, is a prime example. In addition to Russia’s historic territorial claims in the region, the archipelago is also home to a radar and satellite system capable of tracking ballistic missile lanes that are key to NATO communications. Russian politicians at times threaten to simply seize the archipelago, as they did with Crimea. “If there is going to be a conflict in the Arctic, it will probably be here,” said Williams of CSIS, and the State Department official emphasized this concern. Telecommunication domes of Kongsberg satellite services in the Svalbard archipelago, Norway. (Jonathan Nackstrand / AFP via Getty Images) Timo Koivurova, a research professor at the Arctic Center at the University of Lapland in Finland, told Yahoo News that he lamented that “relations between Russia and the West have deteriorated and the idea of ​​a Cold War has begun to prevail.” He wonders, however, if the concerns are excessive. “If you talk to a security scholar, he can argue that World War III is coming from the Arctic. “But it is very difficult for me to imagine it because if you think about Russia’s military goals in the region, there are not many military guides for Russia, other than this kind of balance with NATO.” Williams also sees many parts of the Arctic image as undecided, including the US military commitment to the region, which is an expensive undertaking. “Keeping an F-35 running in the Arctic is much more expensive than keeping it running in Hawaii,” he said. He notes that the United States is concerned about Russia’s control of powerful equipment in the North Sea, an act that the United States believes would violate international maritime law. “The big question is, would we expand in this area? At the moment, it is an open question. “ “The last thing Russia needs is a hot war in the Arctic,” Nima Khorrami, a research fellow at the Arctic Institute, told Yahoo News. “Because if that happened then no one would come in and invest.” And at the moment, Putin, who has sealed the idea of ​​Russia’s Arctic identity in the national soul, wants Asian investment in the region, he said. Any kind of military confrontation, Khorrami added, “and the great strategy of turning the North Sea Route into a new Suez Canal is gone.”

title: “Russian Military Moves In The Arctic Are Of Concern To The United States And Nato " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-01” author: “Jeffrey Ruff”

“This is a typical Russian project,” Finnish Lt. Gen. Pekka Toveri told Yahoo News. “Western activity in the Arctic was very mild.” In March, however, NATO conducted a “Cold Response Exercise” in Norway. With 35,000 fighters from 28 countries, it was NATO’s largest exercise in the Arctic in 30 years. However, the alliance, unlike Russia, has no new plans for permanent forces or military bases in the region, Toveri said, acknowledging that “more patrols and more exercises have given Russia reason to point the finger and claim that The West is the problem. “ Russian soldiers fighting in Mariupol, Ukraine. (Alexander Nemenov / AFP via Getty Images) Western experts say Russia, the largest of the seven countries that surround the Arctic, is behind militarization in the mineral-rich region, which accounts for 20 percent of Russia’s GDP. Over the past decade, the Kremlin has been renovating closed Soviet bases, forming a necklace of dozens of defensive outposts (some estimated over 50) from the Barents Sea on land near Alaska and building new facilities such as the state-of-the-art Trefoil. its northernmost base, which became fully operational last year. The US and NATO have looked on with surprise as Russia has set up a new “Arctic administration” and four new Arctic brigades, refurbished airports and deep-water ports and continues to launch fake military strikes in the Nordic countries amid GPS interference and radio NATO high schools. It is also testing “innovative weapons systems” in the Arctic, according to the State Department. “We have seen increased Russian military activity in the Arctic for some time,” a senior State Department official told Yahoo News. However, the situation is escalating, and not just because Russia continues to test new supersonic weapons in the Arctic, launching a supersonic missile there, just days after Korchunov made his remarks. Before the end of the year, the State Department official added, Russia plans to conduct 19 more tests, including new weapons. “Seeing Russia’s aggressive and unpredictable behavior, especially after the invasion of Ukraine, has really heightened concerns about Russian activity,” he said in the High North, the official said. The story goes on With relations between Moscow and Western governments the coldest in decades due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, analysts are wondering if the Arctic will become the next gunpowder depot. The expansion of Russian bases, arms tests and the strengthening of human resources in the Arctic come as Finland and Sweden have applied to join NATO. If accepted, it would further isolate Russia in the Arctic, making it the only non-NATO country in the region, further enhancing the chances of unintended incidents, analysts say. The author of the recently published report, “The Militarization of Russian Polar Policy,” Mathieu Boulègue, a researcher on the Russia-Eurasia Program at Chatham House, told Yahoo News that his biggest fear is a nuclear accident in the region. “If you look at the long list of nuclear resources – whether they are icebreakers, strategic submarines, floating nuclear power plants or spent fuel – there is a high risk of nuclear accidents,” he said. “Incidents like this are mitigated in peacetime, when you talk to different stakeholders. But the problem is that we are not really talking [with] Russia very well these days. “This further increases the risk of miscalculations and errors.” The Kola Peninsula, for example, a Russian-sized Kentucky-sized Russian landmass near Finland, is the most nucleated part of the planet. Headquartered in Russia’s Northern Fleet, which accounts for two-thirds of Russia’s naval nuclear capabilities for a second strike, the Kola Peninsula marks the entrance to the Russian Arctic and has three military bases and nuclear weapons depots. A new supersonic cruise missile is launched by a Russian Navy frigate from the Barents Sea. (Press Service of the Russian Ministry of Defense via AP) Another third of Russia’s nuclear weapons at sea, however, are located at the eastern tip of the Arctic, Boulègue added – with the Russian Pacific Fleet based in Vladivostok, but some vessels are based in Kamchatka, just opposite Alaska. These facilities could create future problems for the United States, Boulègue said, creating “a point of tension if Russia decides to challenge US access to the Arctic.” Ian Williams, deputy director of the Missile Defense Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, also points to the island of Wrangel – 300 miles from Alaska – where Russia has installed a new air search radar system and may be airborne and may refurbish. in eastern Siberia. “They have a lot of places to put things if they want to threaten Alaska,” he said. Growing concern about Russian activities in the Arctic, which seeks a new North Sea route made possible by melting ice due to climate change, has prompted the US military to reconsider its strategies in the Arctic. Last year, the Army released “Regaining Arctic Dominance,” its first strategic plan for the Far North. Army personnel also began training more frequently in Alaska, learning to fight in brutal polar climates – where temperatures can drop to minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The U.S. Navy is maneuvering in the Arctic with ships and submarines and more – and the Air Force is sending most of its F-35s to Alaska, saying the state “will host more advanced fighters than anywhere else in the world.” Congress has approved funding for six new “icebreakers,” ships that can plow into icy waters. And new satellites designed to boost polar communications and offer new “eyes” to Russia are being launched, along with new radar systems being built from Alaska to Denmark. An icebreaker cuts a route for a cargo ship near Nagurskoye, Russia. (Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP) All these moves are welcomed by Toveri, who believes that the West can not appease Putin and expect “to have the dividend of peace since the Cold War.” He added that after the fall of the Soviet Union, many Nordic countries, including Sweden, reduced their military forces and reduced their spending, while countries such as Denmark shut down their missile defense radar systems, which they were rebuilding. Such moves, however, are troubling Russia, which considers them provocative. Earlier this year, Russian spy planes violated Swedish and Danish airspace. In March 2018 and February 2019, Russian bombers, for example, targeted Norway’s Globus radar system with fake air strikes, barrels on vaulted structures before turning sharply back. However, Russia’s problems with Norway go far beyond its espionage activities. The Norwegian Svalbard archipelago, located midway between Russia and Greenland, is a prime example. In addition to Russia’s historic territorial claims in the region, the archipelago is also home to a radar and satellite system capable of tracking ballistic missile lanes that are key to NATO communications. Russian politicians at times threaten to simply seize the archipelago, as they did with Crimea. “If there is going to be a conflict in the Arctic, it will probably be here,” said Williams of CSIS, and the State Department official emphasized this concern. Telecommunication domes of Kongsberg satellite services in the Svalbard archipelago, Norway. (Jonathan Nackstrand / AFP via Getty Images) Timo Koivurova, a research professor at the Arctic Center at the University of Lapland in Finland, told Yahoo News that he lamented that “relations between Russia and the West have deteriorated and the idea of ​​a Cold War has begun to prevail.” He wonders, however, if the concerns are excessive. “If you talk to a security scholar, he can argue that World War III is coming from the Arctic. “But it is very difficult for me to imagine it because if you think about Russia’s military goals in the region, there are not many military guides for Russia, other than this kind of balance with NATO.” Williams also sees many parts of the Arctic image as undecided, including the US military commitment to the region, which is an expensive undertaking. “Keeping an F-35 running in the Arctic is much more expensive than keeping it running in Hawaii,” he said. He notes that the United States is concerned about Russia’s control of powerful equipment in the North Sea, an act that the United States believes would violate international maritime law. “The big question is, would we expand in this area? At the moment, it is an open question. “ “The last thing Russia needs is a hot war in the Arctic,” Nima Khorrami, a research fellow at the Arctic Institute, told Yahoo News. “Because if that happened then no one would come in and invest.” And at the moment, Putin, who has sealed the idea of ​​Russia’s Arctic identity in the national soul, wants Asian investment in the region, he said. Any kind of military confrontation, Khorrami added, “and the great strategy of turning the North Sea Route into a new Suez Canal is gone.”