From RIA Novosti:  Russia will create several infrastructure hubs along the Northern Sea Route in the Arctic to be used as temporary stations for Russian warships and border guard vessels, Security Council chief Nikolai Patrushev said on Monday.

The authorities have drafted a list of “key double-purpose sites in remote areas of the Arctic seas along the Northern Sea Route” to enable “temporary stationing of Russian Navy warships and vessels operated by the Federal Security Service’s Border Guard Department,” Patrushev said during a meeting with officials in Siberia.

The Northern Sea Route stretches along Russia’s Arctic coast from Murmansk on the Barents Sea to the Bering Strait in the Far East. . . .

The Arctic, believed to have vast untapped natural resources, has increasingly been at the center of disputes between the United States, Russia, Canada, Norway, and Denmark in recent years as rising temperatures lead to a reduction in sea ice, providing access to lucrative offshore oil and gas deposits.

In April, the Russian government unveiled plans to spend around 1.3 trillion rubles ($44 billion) on economic and social projects in the Arctic before 2020. According to the Russian Ministry for Regional Development, the projects will include the creation of new transportation corridors and the development of new hydrocarbon deposits and social infrastructure in the region.  (photo: A. Solomonov/RIA Novosti)

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