Russia Is Building Up Its Military In The Arctic

A Russian soldier walks at a radar facility on the Alexandra Land island near Nagurskoye on Monday as the Kremlin seeks to assert dominance in the region

The base is located between the Russian mainland and the North Pole and is the county's northernmost military base  

Daily Mail: Putin's military base in the far North revealed: Moscow tells the West 'this is our land' and reveals huge complex that can operate nuclear bombers and bristles with missiles and radar 

* The Nagurskoye airbase in the Franz Josef Land archipelago was built in the Cold War as a weather station 

* It has now been heavily militarised with missiles, a radar system and a runway handling nuclear bombers 

* It comes amid increasing tensions in the Arctic with global competition for the oil and gas rich area Russia is building up its military in a remote Arctic airbase prime with missiles, radar and a runway as the Kremlin seeks to assert its dominance in the disputed oil-rich area which it declared this week it 'our land'. 

The Nagurskoye airbase in the Franz Josef Land archipelago was built in the 1950s as a weather station and communications outpost between the Eurasian mainland and the North Pole. 

It was previously a home for polar bears with temperatures plunging to minus 42 Celsius in winter, and snow only disappearing from August to mid-September.  

Read more ....  

Update #1: Russia flexes muscles in challenge for Arctic control (BBC) 

Update #2: Russia to deploy bombers in icy Arctic as US emphasizes need to ‘maintain peace’ in region ahead of crunch summit over territory (RT)  

WNU Editor: American security specialists are finally noticing the importance of the Arctic and why Russia is active in this region .... Panel Warns of Economic and Military Impacts from Russia’s Plans for Arctic (USNI News).