‘Nature is being destroyed’: Russia’s arms buildup in Barents Sea creating toxic legacy

Indigenous people and experts say Moscow's military push and increased shipping and mining will destroy Arctic environment

The Barents Sea port of Severomorsk is the base of the Russian navy's Northern Fleet and, since 2014 - when Russia first invaded eastern Ukraine - it has become the main administrative hub for all of Russia's Arctic military activities.

As the war in Ukraine grinds on, Russia is not so quietly expanding its military activities in this region, too. In the past six years, Russia has built 475 military sites along its northern border. The Kola peninsula and the archipelagos of the Barents Sea have seen dozens of new airstrips, bunkers and bases.