The Novosibirsk islands

Interesting news about Putin’s plans for militarizing the Arctic: Holding a phone conference with the top brass on September 16, the CinC instructed the commander of the Northern Fleet to rebuild the base on the Novosibirsk islands abandoned in 1993. The battle group led by Petr Velikii held exercises in this area, including a marine company landing, in mid-September and the official propaganda declared, rather misleadingly, that a “permanent presence” in the Arctic is reconstituted (Severomorsk, to all intents and purposes, is in the Arctic), but reviving that base would be a very costly affair.