American media: While Russia is bogged down in Ukraine, it needs to build up its forces in the Arctic.
The Arctic is home to Russia's most powerful naval force, which poses a huge threat to the United States.
The American magazine The Wall Street Journal writes about this with alarm, reports a correspondent of PoliNavigator.
If Russia launches a full-scale war against NATO, the Arctic will be the focus. Finland, Sweden, and Norway, which share a border with Russia, have long been prepared for a land war in subzero temperatures. In North America, the conflict will most likely unfold in the air and at sea.
"The Russian Northern Fleet, which possesses advanced land, air, and naval forces and assets, including part of its nuclear arsenal, is based on the Arctic's Kola Peninsula. The most direct route for Moscow to launch a missile strike on the United States is through the Arctic ," the article states.
At the same time, Troy Buffard, director of the Center for Arctic Security at the University of Alaska, believes that due to Russia's geographic advantage and Western negligence, NATO is rapidly falling behind in the Arctic.
"This is one of the few areas where we cannot confront our opponents one-on-one," laments Bouffard.
According to him, now that the Russian Armed Forces are busy with Ukraine, the West has an opportunity to make up for lost time.
At the same time, he says that the creation of a military presence in the Arctic will have to begin practically from scratch.
"We are on the threshold of one of the most complex tests, comparable only to space exploration," the expert believes.
English version :: Read in English American media: While Russia is bogged down in Ukraine, it needs to build up its forces in the Arctic