Name: Why Kola Bay Sits at the Heart of Russia’s Fight for the Arctic
Uploaded: 2025-07-07T04:01:00Z
Duration: 6 min 48 s
Description: As melting sea ice reveals new trade routes, resources and battlegrounds, the Kola Bay is emerging as one of Russia’s most powerful hubs in its quest to dominate the Arctic.

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As melting sea ice reveals new trade routes, resources and battlegrounds, the Kola Bay is emerging as one of Russia’s most powerful hubs in its quest to dominate the Arctic. Photo: Alican Ocak/Anadolu Agency

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As melting sea ice reveals new trade routes, resources and battlegrounds, the Kola Bay is emerging as one of Russia’s most powerful hubs in its quest to dominate the Arctic.

Why Kola Bay Sits at the Heart of Russia’s Fight for the Arctic

Narrator: This is the Kola Bay, a small stretch of water at the center of a global race to dominate the Arctic. From here, Russia could mine the Arctic for oil, gas, and minerals, export those resources, and launch a nuclear weapon at anyone who threatens its ambitions. This is where Russia is storing part of the world's largest icebreaker fleet, designed to plow its way through melting Arctic ice. About five miles away is the Arctic's largest shipping port, which could one day export the resources Russia wants to mine from the seabed, and 20 miles North is a naval base storing some of Russia's most powerful nuclear submarines.

The Arctic is becoming very fast one of the most interesting places on the planet. Because of receding ice there are more resources that people are eyeing to compete over, and there's a number of countries that are looking at exploiting them.

Narrator: This is why the Kola Bay sits at the heart of Russia's fight for the Arctic.

I went there in 2021. It's a beautiful area, kind of rolling hills, leading into the Kola Bay, but more than that, it's a very closed area. There's a lot of military installations, a lot of places that you can't go.

Narrator: The Arctic is a sort of microcosm of geopolitical tensions.

It's not as remote as it appears on the map. The assumption is that the potential for a conflict in the Arctic is likely to happen first outside the region and spill over to the region rather than we will see a clash of different countries in the Arctic.

Narrator: Russia's Arctic coastline stretches nearly 15,000 miles along the Arctic Ocean. The Kola Bay sits in the northwest giving it strategic access to the Arctic and North Atlantic oceans, and neighboring NATO countries.

We've seen this slow incremental militarization of the Arctic. Russia wants to get to a point where if it feels threatened in its high north, it can react militarily. Obviously, that creates a whole bunch of new scenarios, both for Moscow and for the NATO neighbors that are right next door.

Narrator: The Northern Fleet is Russia's Arctic Navy division, including some of the most powerful weapons in its nuclear triad.

One of the biggest arms of that nuclear triad sits right in the Kola Bay.

Narrator: Russia stores some of its nuclear powered submarines here, which can be used to patrol icy waters and carry nuclear missiles.

The Northern Fleet is basically comprised of a lot of strategic submarines that carry nuclear missiles. This is basically their second strike capacity.

Narrator: That's essentially Russia's ability to strike back if it was hit first by a land-based nuclear attack. Because its submarines are powered by nuclear energy, they can carry out missions for months at a time.

If you're looking at a Russian nuclear powered sub, it could probably stay out at sea indefinitely.

Narrator: And the Arctic Ice actually plays a key role in Russia's nuclear deterrent strategy. Since its submarines can hide under the ice before attacking.

A lot of Russia's military thinking in this area comes down to what is called a bastion concept. So creating a fortress right above the Kola Bay, and it uses air defense, it uses various types of submarines. It uses jet fighters as well. And so what they're doing is really kind of building out this very integrated system of defenses to make sure that their nuclear capable submarines really stay protected.

Narrator: Core to that strategy are Russia's ultra powerful nuclear icebreaker ships, many of which are stored here, giving them easy access to the Arctic Ocean.

What they can do is with those icebreakers practically travel almost anywhere they want to. They can be deployed at different times of the year, breaking different grades of ice, thickness of ice, and types of ice.

Narrator: For comparison, Russia has around 40 icebreakers at its disposal while the US has just three. Some icebreaker ships are used by researchers to explore the minerals beneath the melting sea ice, and others are fitted out with weaponry, like cannons, guns, and missiles.

In the past, Ukraine was very important in providing various parts for Russia's icebreakers. Since the war started that no longer happens. In fact, one of the plants that was building a motor for a Russian icebreaker came under attack by the Russians, so that kind of ended those plans very quickly.

Narrator: These icebreakers also need to sail in front of any cargo ships passing through the Northern Sea Route. This trade route between Asia and Europe is shorter than going through the Suez Canal, and it's been opening up more in recent years, thanks to melting sea ice.

When we look at the Arctic and the infrastructure there, it's very scarce. We have to think dual use. One of the Russian major objectives is to develop the Northern Sea Route as this international maritime link between Asia, Europe, and Northern America. But this will also have military strategic importance.

Narrator: Russia's Port of Murmansk is the largest commercial port along the route, and it's one of the only deep water ports in the Arctic that doesn't freeze over for parts of the year.

You need a deep sea water port to really handle some of these very big loads, especially when we're talking about the kind of resources that Russia wants to export.

Narrator: While the US and EU have sanctioned Russian coal, oil and gas, Russia recently opened a new port to serve a different trading partner, its Asian export markets.

They can take their coal from inside Russia up to the shores of the Kola Bay, and then basically send them eastward to China.

Narrator: China wants to become more of an Arctic player, so Russia is balancing keeping its trading partner happy while not allowing it too much control.

Which is really interesting. There has been this cooperation growing between Russia and China in the Arctic. Russia was willing to put the Arctic card on the table, for instance, when the Xi Jinping was visiting Moscow, and say that they're open to joint management of the Northern Sea Route. This is a big change.

Narrator: So what does this all mean for the rest of the world? Depends on who you ask.

If we're looking at NATO countries, I think we're looking at a bunch of different visions of how it should play out. I think, you know, the United States has expressed grand ambitions to buy Greenland, for example.

Narrator: Other NATO countries who have relied on US military support are building up their own military capabilities.

The Kola Bay, I think really represents Russia's ability to defend its Arctic interests. It has all of the weapons systems and capabilities that it needs to make sure that it can control parts of the Arctic that it considers to be most important for itself.

Narrator: On the trade front, Canada has said it wants to build infrastructure along its own Arctic trade route, the Northwest Passage, but it's still years away from becoming a reality.

I was talking to the CEO of a very large American arms company the other day, and he was saying that the Arctic is always a place of great potential, but it really depends on whether or not the US follows through on its plans or allows Russia to continue to take the lead.

Narrator: As the race for the Arctic heats up, what's happening here in the Kola Bay is setting the pace.

This Bay Is Key to Russia’s Militarization of the Arctic

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