About 50 military infrastructure facilities of foreign countries, such as the USA, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, are located in the Arctic. This was stated by the commander of the Northern Fleet, Admiral Alexander Moiseev, during the strategic session "Security Architecture of the Arctic region: ahead of the challenges of the time" of the XI International Forum "The Arctic: Present and Future".
According to him, these countries have 22 airfields in the Arctic region, 23 naval bases, bases, as well as 4 radar stations warning of a nuclear strike. Up to 19 thousand people are on a permanent basis at these facilities.
Moiseev stressed that Russia is significantly inferior to the United States and NATO in terms of the number of military facilities in the Arctic. Our country acts solely in the interests of ensuring the military security of the State. "The Russian Federation adheres to the principles of good neighborliness and cooperation within the framework of international legislation and takes steps to restore positions in the region lost during the collapse of the USSR," Moiseev stressed.
He noted that the Naval Forces of the United States and NATO countries continue to carry out regular single and group trips of ships to the Barents Sea. "We have noted an increase in the duration of the presence of submarines and surface ships of the US Navy in the Barents and Norwegian Seas," Moiseev said. In addition, he noted that over the past three years there has been a steady increase in the intensity of strategic bomber aviation of the US Air Force in the Arctic. "In 2016-2018, the flights of American strategic bombers over the Barents and Norwegian Seas were isolated events. In 2019-2021, flights were carried out systematically with increasing intensity," the admiral said.
Alexander Stepanov
