Russian military sites in the Arctic
Ernie Regehr
A further comment on some of the postings re the NATO Sec-Gen’s visit and the declared threats to the Arctic:
The NATO Sec-Gen’s Globe and Mail op-ed (Aug 25) claimed that Russia is “opening hundreds of new and former Soviet-era Arctic military sites.” Today’s G&M reports on the visit and repeats the claim that Russia is “opening hundreds of new military bases and Soviet-era sites” in the Arctic. The actual total number of such sites (long-standing sites as well as new, re-opened, and refurbished ones) is closer to the 30-40 range, depending on how you count them. Obviously we can’t be sure, relying on public sources, that we have a comprehensive listing, but its clear from media and thinktank reporting that there are not “hundreds.”
From Anadyr, on the Pacific side of the Chukchi Peninsula, to Arkhangelsk, across the White Sea from the Kola Peninsula, there are 18-20 military sites that are routinely identified. These are strung along the entire length of Russia’s Arctic coast and several islands and archipelagos. These sites are linked to patrolling the Northern Sea Route, search and rescue services, air and coastal defences along the very long frontier, defence of the Barents Sea bastion in which Russian SLBMs patrol. Some are forward operating locations for fighter aircraft and strategic bombers, some are dual civilian/military facilities. On the Kola peninsula itself are another dozen or so major facilities, some with multiple sites that can be separately counted for a total of about 20 sites (some of which are storage sites for nuclear weapons, others for radioactive waste – making them a liability to be managed, not a source of military strength). The Kola is of course where the Northern Fleet is based, which includes at least half of its submarines with ICBMS, along with attack submarines, surface vessels and air bases.
The total Kola and non-Kola sites reaches to roughly 40 – in other words, there are dozens such sites across the Russian North, not hundreds. And by the way, the other seven Arctic states combined have about the same number of sites (and combined the make-up slightly less than half the Arctic region), similarly equipped with similar roles (except that there are no strategic nuclear armed subs based in the non-Russian north).
By the way, this High North News piece from Aug 4 (https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/control-over-arctic-ocean-top-priority-new-russian-naval-doctrine) on Russia’s naval doctrine says this about new bases in the Russian north: “The [new naval] policy comes on the heels of 15 years of revitalizing Arctic and maritime assets, including the reopening of more than a dozen Russian Arctic military airfields and bases since 2007.” Somewhere along the way, “a dozen” became “hundreds.”
I’ve sent a message to NATO asking for an explanation of how the Sec-Gen arrived at the claim of “hundreds” of sites.
Ernie
Ernie Regehr
Senior Fellow in Defence and Arctic Security
The Simons Foundation Canada
Research Fellow
Centre for Peace Advancement
Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo
Home Office: 519-579-4735
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