Arctic Rush

Ice, oil and bears await

Russia is pressing ahead to assert its authority over the Arctic, including the North Pole. After conducting extensive research over the last ten years, the government has submitted a comprehensive claim to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf for a vast area of the Arctic. Russia argues that 1.2 million square kilometers of the Arctic shelf (over 460,000 square miles) beyond its legal borders, including the North Pole, are a continuation of the Eurasian continent, giving Russia exclusive use of the territory. The claim is likely to be reviewed at the UN in February.

Although low oil prices and limited access to technology as a result of Western sanctions hinder Moscow’s ability to prospect for the estimated 4.9 bn tons of oil and gas reserves in the cold (and dark) Arctic, Russia seems to be taking a long-term view. It is also well ahead of most other Arctic countries with its UN paperwork. Denmark and Canada have also prepared UN claims, some of which overlap with Russia’s.

In parallel with Russia’s claims, the country’s military is enhancing its ability to operate in the region. A special арктическая бригада (Arctic brigade), part of the Northern Fleet and based in the Murmansk province village of Alakurtti, has been created. The brigade, formed after a decree by President Vladimir Putin on New Year’s Eve 2014, is currently being equipped. It includes airborne troops that have already participated in exercises on far-flung northern islands, which had been mostly deserted after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russia’s new naval doctrine, updated this year, also names the Arctic as one of its two priorities. “The Arctic for us is free passage into the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans that is not hindered by anyone, and of course the richness of the continental shelf, which demands a careful approach to development,” said Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, the government’s point man on the Arctic and the military, when presenting the new doctrine to President Putin.

Needless to say, the shift of attention to the Arctic worries Russian environmentalists. The delicate northern landscape of permafrost and tundra is already threatened by existing oil exploration and production projects in a country that is heavily dependent upon oil and gas exports. More drilling will place greater burdens on a region that has a very low carrying capacity, where most everything needed for modern life must be brought in from the outside.

Finally, there are the polar bears. With their habitat and food sources shrinking due to climate change, Russia’s bears are increasingly crossing paths with human interlopers. This year several meteorologists were stranded for days in their living quarters on Vaigach Island, part of the Nenets Autonomous District, when polar bears prevented them from going outside to take measurements. The regional government announced that it would create special mobile units, armed with rubber bullets, to patrol villages.