Inside Britain's mission to deny Russia control of the Arctic

Telegraph

28-05-2025

Russia's 200-metre long floating dock was meant to help Moscow control the Arctic seas.
In service, the vast craft will assist in repairing nuclear-powered ice-breakers, needed to cleave safe passage through the frozen waters around Nato's northern flank.
But the journey of the craft to its home in the Russian port of Murmansk has been interrupted by British sanctions, the Foreign Office announced on Tuesday.
The newly designated Vengery tugboat – due to tow the dock out of Istanbul – has returned to Russia, 'leaving the floating dock stranded in the Mediterranean'.
The announcement will have put a spring in the step of David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, who on Tuesday began a visit to Norway and Iceland, Britain's two nearest Arctic neighbours.
'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,' Mr Lammy told The Telegraph.
The Foreign Secretary will observe British and Norwegian ships carrying out joint patrols before announcing an artificial intelligence scheme with Iceland aimed at detecting hostile vessels.
'And as ice caps in the region melt, new shipping routes and resources will be exposed, further heightening the risk of confrontation,' he said. 'That's why we must take action to deter threats in the Arctic.'
Moscow is stepping up its campaign to dominate the Northern Sea route, which – when not frozen over – nearly halves the distance ships must travel between Europe and Asia.
It is seeking to procure more of the nuclear-powered ice-breakers capable of unblocking the route far from its coasts.
And Vladimir Putin has invested heavily in his prized Northern Fleet, which possesses 18 nuclear-powered submarines and warships now equipped with hypersonic missiles.
The Russian dictator 'got the drop' over Nato with 'a decade of remilitarisation' in the Arctic before the war in Ukraine began, says Ed Arnold, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank.
Russia has peppered its Arctic regions with new military bases, upgraded the Northern Fleet to replace ageing Soviet craft, and invested in hypersonic, highly precise cruise missiles like the Tsirkon, whose 1,000km (621-mile) range brings Western targets into play.
However, the war in Ukraine has stretched the Russian military and it is now 'so much weakened it's almost giving Nato a 'get out of jail free' card,' says Mr Arnold.
'If you invest and take this seriously now, you could potentially ensure supremacy in the Arctic' for the long term, he adds.
Together, Norway and the UK form the front line against any Russian attempt to enter the waters of the North Atlantic, from where its vessels could sever transatlantic supply lines – and threaten population centres.
In recent years, Moscow has stepped up patrols across the Arctic, accusing Nato of provoking the Kremlin with increased exercises in northern Norway.
Like the Russian jets that fly along the edge of UK airspace, triggering a rapid reaction deployment from the RAF, the Russian navy conducts regular military exercises in the Arctic's non-territorial waters.
Recent incidents have involved Russian ships sailing dangerously close to Norwegian vessels without warning them in advance over the radio.
After the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Moscow is now said to have a greater risk appetite in the Arctic, and is willing to push its strained relationship with Nato countries to its limit.
Posturing
That approach is described as 'overt posturing', designed as a show of force to the Western countries that operate within the Arctic circle.
One recent development, surely prompted by Russia's success with drones in Ukraine, is to send unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) along its 124-mile border with Norway.
The harsh Arctic territory would make it difficult for Russia to send tanks over the border in any great numbers, but drones can operate from the skies with a far smaller footprint than fast jets or ships.
The alliance's response to Russia's sabre-rattling has been to step up the military collaboration between the UK and Norway.
In a Nato training exercise in the Arctic Circle earlier this month, both countries' navies took part in drills showcasing the ability to shoot down Russia's latest cruise missiles.
In Oslo, politicians have proposed a 12-year plan to increase defence spending in light of Russian aggression, and bought new anti-drone and anti-submarine technology.
Meanwhile, the UK has deployed its new P-8 Poseidon 'sub hunter' planes, and is sharing defence technology and platforms with the Norwegian military.
But in order to truly deter Putin, analysts are calling for a stepped-up presence both in the seas and on land.
There is speculation that Labour's forthcoming Strategic Defence Review will result in British forces being permanently stationed in the Arctic, with a standing force modelled on that already deployed in Estonia.
The West's navies also need to shift from holding high-profile exercises to continuous operations, says Mr Arnold. That requires more ships.
'What is actually going to worry Putin more will be the fact that - in three or four years' time - the general operational activity in the High North [Nato's term for the Arctic] has increased four-fold and continues to increase. That's what actually builds deterrence.'
'You need naval ships, of course,' adds Per Erik Solli, a retired Norwegian Air Force colonel and analyst at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. 'You need submarines and you need fighter jets, such as the F-35, that are capable of carrying anti-ship equipment.
'The number one priority in Norway is our navy.'