Earlier this week, the document appeared on the web-site of the Security Council. It appears that the document dedicated to establishment of “general-purpose troops stationed in the Arctic region and capable to guarantee military security in variable military and politic situations” is dated September 18, 2008.

FSB is called to create “an actively functioning coast guard in the Arctic zone” which means that the territories and coastline inside the Polar circle will be closely monitored by the state security services.

The strategy implies "optimization of complex control over the situation in the Arctic region, including border control, technical control of straight zones and estuaries along the Northern Sea Route."

Mir-1 submersible (AFP Photo)

Demarcation of the North Ocean that sow and secure a mutually profitable presence for Russia and Norway on Spitsbergen Island of the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean are mentioned among top priorities in the document.

Kommersant Daily reminds that the special role of the FSB in the Arctic project was stressed by the head of the service, Nikolay Patrushev, who accompanied the Russian president’s Arctic authorized representative, Artur Chilingarov, to the North Pole in 2008.

Back in September 2008, Patrushev, during hearings at the Security Council, excluded the possibility of a “war for the Arctic” but particularly stressed that “Russia is going to maintain its interests in the region as well as other Arctic countries”.

The Arctic race

Publication of the Russian Arctic strategy coincided with Norwegian naval war games.

At the same time, NATO has mentioned earlier that it does not consider Russia as a potential enemy, and only considers risks of intensifying traffic along the North Sea Route, and correlated with it rescue operations once the Arctic ice melts enough to make the route operable all year round.

The Foreign Ministries of Canada and Norway are planning to thoroughly analyze Russian Arctic strategy before making any official announcements.

The Russian president’s special representative to the Arctic, Artur Chilingarov, told Kommersant Daily that “Russia should protect its borders and defend its sovereignty in full.”

Currently, Russia is deploying a polar station “Barneo” close to the North Pole with the active help of Russian military aviation.

Russia prepares to collect all the material proof and documentation for officially “internationally approved demarcation of the external border of the Russian Arctic zone” by 2010 which means that Russia will be able to prove that Lomonosov submerged ridge and Mendeleev submerged raise are the extension of the Russian continental shelf, and therefore belong to the Russian Federation.

In 2007, Russia conducted a ten-day expedition exploring the sea bed of the Arctic and collecting geological evidence of the Lomonosov Ridge, which is a continuation of Russia's continental shelf, and is rich in oil and gas. The expedition even planted a Russian flag made of titan on the North Pole 4,300 meters deep under water using Mir submersible.

In February 2009, four Scandinavian countries together with Iceland announced the possible creation of a Nordic military alliance to protect their interests in the Arctic.

So far five countries including Russia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, and the U.S. have claimed their rights over the Arctic.