The West will never be able to deny Russian access to the Arctic, but meaningful steps by the UK are showing how Moscow’s ambitions can be contained, experts said last night. It follows a trip to Iceland and Norway by Foreign Secretary David Lammy, where he observed British and Norwegian ships carrying out joint patrols.
“The Arctic is fast becoming an area of intense focus for geopolitical competition – and a key flank of Nato’s defences. Russia has been building up its military presence here for years,” said the Foreign Secretary. New measures include using AI in a joint £554,000 project with Reykjavik to monitor Russian maritime activity, and targeted sanctions aimed at hampering Russian operations in the region. These have rendered Russia’s new 200-metre floating dock inoperable, limiting its ability to efficiently deploy four nuclear-powered icebreakers to the region.
The Arctic has been vital to Russia’s economy for decades, offering a shortcut between Europe and Asia. But melting ice caps and war in Ukraine have made the Northern Sea Route a political and logistical priority.
The route serves as a conduit for LNG exports and a ‘shadow fleet’ smuggling sanctioned goods — such as oil, gas and stolen Ukrainian grain — back to Russia. It is kept navigable by four mammoth Project 22220 icebreakers: Arktika, Sibir, Ural and Yakutiya.
To service them without sailing around Scandinavia to St Petersburg’s Baltic Shipyard, Russia deploys a floating dock.
After Russia’s last dock sank in Murmansk in 2018 while servicing the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, Moscow commissioned a new one in 2021 from Turkey’s Kuzey Star Shipyard in a £68m deal.
The new dock, with a lifting capacity of 30,000 tonnes, was completed at the end of last year and towed out via the Bosphorus into the Mediterranean.
When the Yakutiya arrived in Murmansk this April, Rosatomflot director Yakov Antonov confirmed the new dock would arrive at its Arctic base in the second half of 2025.
That was before the UK sanctioned the tug boat assigned to tow it there.
The sanctioned tug boat, the Russian-flagged Vengery, has now left the floating dock in the Mediterranean and is currently heading back north towards Murmansk alone.
“UK sanctions have helped halt Putin’s plans to station a floating repair dock in the Arctic to service the precious icebreaker fleet,” said the FCDO.
“Areas close to the Arctic are being used by Russia’s nuclear-powered icebreakers, which are crucial to Putin’s High North ambitions, clearing paths for tankers helping fund his illegal war in Ukraine.”
This coincides with deepening UK-Nordic defence ties.
Russian activity in the region is intensifying, with Moscow recently deploying offensive unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) along its 124-mile border with Norway.
Moscow is also preparing to raise troop numbers in its Leningrad Military District near Finland to 80,000.
In the Kola region (Murmansk Oblast), the Northern Fleet’s 14th army corps will be expanded into a full army, while a completely new army corps will be established in Karelia and several brigades will be expanded in divisions.
Britain has boosted cooperation by deploying its new P-8 Poseidon “sub-hunter” aircraft and sharing tech platforms with the Norwegian military.
In a NATO training exercise in the Arctic Circle earlier this month, both nations’ navies took part in drills showcasing the ability to intercept Russia’s latest cruise missiles.
Norway, meanwhile, is rolling out new anti-drone and anti-submarine tech, and is planning a 12-year defence spending increase. There is even speculation that the UK’s upcoming Strategic Defence Review will see British troops permanently stationed in the Arctic, modelled on the Estonia deployment.
“Russian strategy is based on the economic development of its Arctic,” said Dr Dwayne Ryan Menezes, founder of the Polar Research and Policy Initiative think tank. “They link the prosperity of the Russian state and people to development of their northern region.
“That integration of the North into their economy is something the West hasn’t fully embraced. We still treat the Arctic as a backwater where we must increase presence, rather than an integral part of our economies. That’s Russia’s advantage.”
Still, the UK is catching up.
“Russia is the largest Arctic player – we can’t deny it access, but we can contain its ambitions,” he added.
“The UK leads two key groups that include Norway – the Joint Expeditionary Force and the Northern Group. And though Britain only has observer status in the Arctic Council, our relationship with Norway is critical.”
NATO’s expansion to include Sweden and Finland could also give shape to a new Arctic defence posture.
“Finland has some of the best artillery and anti-mine capabilities. Sweden has world-class anti-submarine warfare,” he said.
“In return, our troops are getting cold-weather and forest warfare training. These nations have much to teach us.”
