INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Russia Arctic Military Base Unveiled During Biggest Armed Forces Push In Region Since Soviet Union Fell

By Tara Dodrill
Published on: 03:59 PST, Apr 18, 2017

Russia just unveiled its new Arctic military base in a virtual tour 3D video. The base was designed to not only house 150 troops, but to store nuclear-ready aircraft as well. The top secret areas of the Russian military base were not included in the recently released video.

The Russian Arctic military base is located in the extremely remote area of Alexandra Land in the Franz Josef Archipelago. The massive 5-story complex marks the largest military push in the Arctic region since the Soviet Union fell and is but one step Vladimir Putin is taking to claim more control of the region, the Daily Mail reports.

MiG-31 warplanes capable of shooting long-range bombers out of the sky may also be deployed to the new Russian military base. The SU-34, a bomber plane designed to be on the frontline of President Putin’s armed forces, may also be sent to the new military complex.

The 150 Russian soldiers to be housed inside the Arctic military base can remain comfortably inside the complex, away from the subzero temperatures outside, for 18 months. The soldiers can entertain themselves inside when not on duty in the movie theater, or by using the ping pong and pool tables which have been included in the base. An art studio is also reportedly in the works for soldiers to use as a leisure time activity.

“Under [Mikhail] Gorbachev and [Boris] Yeltsin, our Arctic border areas were stripped bare,” Russian Geographical Society professor Pavel Makarevich, said. “Now they are being restored.”

Vladimir Putin is working diligently to restore and re-open abandoned Soviet Union military and radar bases on secluded Arctic islands while building new ones around the region. The Russian President is also reportedly attempting to claim approximately a half a million square miles of the Arctic for his country.

Moscow officials announced earlier this year that Russia was beginning to build nuclear icebreakers as a part of its plan for establishing its power in the Arctic region. The icebreakers can clear the path for both military and civilian ships. No other country in the world possesses a nuclear icebreakers fleet. Russia’s Northern Fleet will reportedly get its very own set of nuclear icebreakers to ensure it will never be stopped by a frozen waterway.

America, Canada, Norway, and now China, all have a presence in the region. Due, at least in part, to the opening of the Arctic military base, Russia may now possess even more military might than is had before the Soviet Union fell.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Vladimir Putin vowed to have both the largest and best-equipped military in the world by 2020. Putin’s top military official, General Valery Gerasimov, announced a multi-billion dollar military expansion plan two years ago.

“Support for our strategic nuclear forces to ensure their high military capability combined with growth of the military potential of the general forces will assure that [America and NATO] do not gain military superiority over our country,” General Gerasimov said. “Western countries are actively using new forms of aggression, combining military as well as non-military means. Political, economic and information methods are also being used.”

The Russia Arctic military base complex may have not only military ramifications but fiscal and geopolitical ones as well. The Arctic military base may allow Russia to garner more control over international shipping along the Northern Sea Route, MSN reports.

The oil and gas reserves in the Alexandra Land region are expected to soon be claimed by Moscow. Franz Josef Archipelago is located in the extreme northern region of Russia along the edge of its border. The oil and gas are estimated to be worth trillions of dollars.

The Arctic region is believed to house a more substantial amount of hydrocarbon reserves than even Saudi Arabia. According to the United States Geological Survey, the Arctic holds the equivalent of 412 billion barrels of oil and approximately 22 percent of the undiscovered oil and gas reserves on the planet.

[Featured Image by Maria Moskvitsova/Shutterstock]

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