Kotelny Island is a nondescript piece of frigid wasteland of no particular note. Except hosting a military base-in-the-making, the first of many from which Russia plans to project its military might to and across the Arctic. RT visited with the Navy.
The island is the largest in the Novosibirsk Archipelago, located in the Laptev Sea off the eastern Siberian coast. Back in the soviet days the military deployed an observation post and a radar station on the Kotelny Island, but with the fall of the country all the troops were withdrawn, leaving behind only a civilian meteorological station.
But now, after decades of desolation, the former military base is being rebuilt. Last year sailors and engineers of the Russian Northern Fleet began construction works, cleaning up rusty barrels and broken vehicles abandoned on the island and constructing a landing strip so that supplies could be airlifted rather than air-dropped.
Now the Temp base, which is still mostly a couple of buildings and rows of temporary winter tents, has become the new home for the 99th Arctic tactical group, the Navy’s permanent unit serving at the hostile land. There is virtually not a tree on the island, much of which is a flat rocky bed of pebbles covering a layer of permafrost.
An RT crew is traveling with a fleet of warships and support ships that delivered the troops and their military hardware, including brand new armored vehicles, to Kotelny. The military men say they are determined to deal with the hardships Arctic will deal them.
“The conditions are certainly harsh, but we are coping. We have housing and equipment, so we’ll survive just fine,” Yuri Popov, an engineer with the 99th told RT’s Murad Gazdiev.
The Russian Defense Ministry had big plans for Kotelny. A new pier will be soon built to dock medium-sized vessels, which would make supply runs that much cheaper during the summer navigation. The runway would be extended and strengthened to serve heavier aircraft, including heavy transport planes and strategic bombers. Manning all the new installations would require additional personnel, and a new city for the troops and their families is now being built several kilometers from the Temp.
With the Arctic becoming warmer and its natural riches more accessible, leading nations are eager to get their share of the pie. Thanks to its geographical position Russia will get the biggest slice. And it’s not sparing any expense to add a military backing to its economic claim, especially since it has an edge due to experience and the world’s best fleet of icebreakers.
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What was once a battle for the moon has now become a race to the Arctic between the West and Russia. On September 8, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia’s military presence in the Arctic is one of nation’s top priorities, arguing that it will protect shipping routes between Europe and the Pacific. But a few Western countries are wary about Russian military in the Arctic. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said America would increase a presence in the Arctic while Canada expressed deep concerns. But a strong Russian existence puts Alaska and America’s access to natural resources at risk.
Tensions between the West and Russia never went away after the fall of the Soviet Union, but Putin and Russia’s involvement in Ukraine only increased the tension to Cold War levels. Putin knows what he wants and is not afraid to grab it. He knows the West can threaten sanctions and penalties, but Russia’s wealth in oil and natural gas greatly protects him from the consequences these may otherwise have. He can poke and prod the West and more than likely escape any harmful punishment.
On September 8, Russia’s military claimed construction on new military bases started in the region. It is the first time for new construction at the bases since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
"On Wrangel Island and Cape Schmidt, block-modules have been unloaded for the construction of military camps,” said Eastern Military District spokesman Colonel Alexander Gordeyev. “The complex is being erected in the form of a star.”
The Russians never used Wrangel Island, which is in the Arctic Ocean and separates “the East Siberian Sea and Chukchi Sea,” in the Cold War. In August, Russian military rooted the Russian flag on the island to claim it. However, Wrangel Island is a UNESCO World Heritage site, which means no construction of any kind can take place. It is another example that Putin will grab what he wants no matter the consequence.
