News & Views on the Russian presence within the Arctic Circle
15 April 2010
To a background of Kratwerk’’s ‘Radioactivity’ the narrator tells the story of how Russia’s ice-breakers were the first to conquer the Arctic. Why is this of interest? First, it is an excellent piece of music. Second, there is a graphic representation and some mention of the new generation of ice-breakers. Third, this seems to be just a general kind of, dare... Read More...
29 January 2010
The new law currently before the Russian Duma on the Management of Radioactive Waste does not offer sufficient safeguards for the health of human populations according to critics as reported in b-port.com, the regional news-agency from Murmansk. Apparently the law will even allow the importation of nuclear waste into Russia from abroad, which will scarcely assist Russia’s own massive... Read More...
21 January 2010
российская газета reports on a new bill currently before the state duma which aims to provide a unified body and set of laws designed to tackle the problem of Russia’s nuclear waste, much of it a product of activities in the Arctic and located in the Arctic, such as the ‘Плавучая технологическая база (птб) «Лепсе»’ –... Read More...
16 December 2009
Under the headling ‘the west prepares for struggle in the Arctic’ иноСМИ.ru, a prominent national daily, published a lengthy analysis of the US Navy’s Arctic Road Map (October 2009). The assessment is that the document demonstrates a continuation of George W. Bush’s geostrategic policies – ‘И в самом деле новая американская... Read More...
12 December 2009
Russian press agencies are reporting today articles that, in and of themselves cast, doubt on Russia’s strategic military capacity in the Arctic. голос-радио republish an article from The Times (UK) on-line that reports the explosion of a ballistic missile in the atmosphere over Norway, after a test-firing from a Russian submarine. ино-пресса report the... Read More...
10 December 2009
мурманск-вестник, always a good source, closer to the gritty realities of Arctic Russia today than many of the big nationals, carries what can only be described as a public annoucement. Dimitry Dmitrienko, Governor of Mumansk Oblast, sees a busy future for Murmansk, with increases in wages and over 3/4 of a billion roubles being spent in the region. He emphasizes ‘ the... Read More...
3 December 2009
There was a lot of news coverage given to the Russian ice-breaking fleet on the 3rd December as the 3rd is the 50th anniversary of the launch of the 1st atomic ice-breaker, Lenin. A press conference was held on board Lenin, now a musuem in Murmansk, with officials from atomflot and plenty of press present. (There is some good footage here of the Lenin leading a ‘caravan’ across... Read More...
25 November 2009
popmechanic.ru reports on the arrival of the Yamal ice-breaker, which was busy over the summer, and its arrival in Murmansk, where it is now docked alongside the Arktica - a legendary ice-breaker from Soviet times. This photograph of the bow of the Yamal published over the summer shows the teeth painted on the front and ‘popmechanic’ reports that this was painted there... Read More...
13 November 2009
Полит.ru writes about something that has not been mentioned for some time, the plans for a floating nuclear power station, know as Project Патес. The project appears to have a number of purposes and is designed to play an integral role in Russia’s Arctic Development plans, thus Gazprom intends to use it for, ‘для энергообеспечения добычи и... Read More...
5 November 2009
Many Russian sources address the comments made by a British expert on the problems of the Arctic, who uses the phrase ‘new cold war’ in an interview with РИАНовости. This phrase ‘new cold war’ is often used by journalists in the west searching for a headline but what does it actually mean? It is likely to be the case that the USA and Russia will fight... Read More...
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