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chancy
16th January 2015, 04:30
Hello Everyone:
It appears that the safe keeping of the resources in the artic are starting to be secured by Russia. I know when Canada's prime minister harper was in the Artic a month or so ago he saw some really nice prestine 3o3's from world war to for Canada's peace keepers of the north. However they didn't have enough bullets.
They were promised new guns with bullets but as ya'll know that when oil went down so did all the political promises.................
If you look at the link you will see maps etc that I have no idea how to transfer into this article here on avalon.
From what I am reading it looks like Russia has taken the north for itself because no one else has taken the place seriously until now
chancy

Link:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/russia-constructing-arctic-stronghold-30-172212447.html;_ylt=A0SO81__kbhU8AkASsXrFAx.;_ylu=X3oDMTEzc2QzOGRvBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMwRjb2xvA2dxMQR2dG lkA0NBQzAwMV8x

Article:

Russia Is Constructing An Arctic Stronghold 30 Miles From The Finnish Border
Business Insider
By Jeremy Bender January 14, 2015 12:22 PM

Russia has started moving troops towards a new military installation that's 31 miles from the Finnish border, Damien Sharkov Newsweek reports citing a press statement from Russian admiral Vladimir Korolev.

As of Jan. 13, approximately 800 servicemen from Russia's Northern Fleet had been stationed in the Russian town of Alakurtti, in the Murmansk region. Alakurtti is due to become one of Russia's key strongholds in its quest to fortify its position and influence over the Arctic region.

The rest of Russia’s Northern Fleet — which includes 3,000 ground troops trained for combat in Arctic conditions backed by 39 ships and 45 submarines — will be stationed there "soon."

Finnish news network YLE confirms that Russia has reopened the military base in Alakurtti. The base had previously been shut down in 2009, but was now being retrofitted to fit a garrison of 3,000 radioelectronics experts.

Russia's drive to militarize the Arctic is in keeping with the country's new military, which was signed into law on Dec. 26 last year. The new doctrine explicitly states that NATO's expansion was the main external threat facing Moscow and that Russia should reinforce three key geopolitical fronts.

“In 2015, the Defense Ministry’s main efforts will focus on an increase of combat capabilities of the armed forces and increasing the military staff in accordance with military construction plans. Much attention will be given to the groupings in Crimea, Kaliningrad, and the Arctic,” Russian General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov said, according to Russia's Sputnik news agency.

Aside from relocating personnel to Murmansk, Russia has undertaken a construction blitz across the Arctic in a bid to ensure that it remains the unchallenged military power in the region. Moscow is constructing ten Arctic search-and-rescue stations, 16 deepwater ports, 13 airfields, and ten air-defense radar stations across its Arctic coast.

According to the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM), Moscow will also create in the Arctic a naval infantry brigade, an air defense division, a mechanized brigade, a coastal missile defense system, and missile regiments in outlying archipelagos in the Arctic Ocean.

Russia's focus on the Arctic stems from the unclaimed natural resources under the ice. The US estimates that a possible 15% of the earth's remaining oil, 30% of its natural gas, and 20% of its liquefied natural gas are stored within the Arctic sea bed.

Currently, Russia, Denmark, Norway, Canada, and the US all have partial claims to the Arctic Circle.

Arctic Territorial Claims
Economist

Baby Steps
16th January 2015, 12:34
Interesting Geographically, this base would not appear to be a good location for policing the Barents Sea or accessing the Polar region. It is a forward base directly threatening Finland as it could be a jumping off point for that thrust that cuts Finland in half prior to the main push into northern Norway. This is the scenario that the Norwegians (and British) have been terrified of for 60 years. Does not mean that it will happen, just that Russia is responding to Nato's belligerence and forward placed 'defensive' missile systems with an equal measure of threat.

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