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Russian Warships Are Returning to A Place They Haven't Been Since the Cold War
Photo: AP)

Russian Warships Are Returning to A Place They Haven't Been Since the Cold War

"We have come, or rather permanently returned, to where we belong, because it is originally Russian land."

MOSCOW, Sept 16 (TheBlaze/Reuters) - Russia is reopening the Soviet-era military base in the Arctic it abandoned after the Cold War, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday, as part of a drive to make the northern coast a global shipping route and secure the region's vast energy resources.

Two decades after abandoning it, Russia has sent 10 warships behind four nuclear-powered ice breakers to the base on the Novosibirsk Islands -- a show of force as it resumes a permanent naval presence in the thawing region.

The flotilla was led by Russia's flagship nuclear-powered cruiser, Peter the Great, along the Northern Sea Route, which connects Europe to Asia across Russian waters from the Kara Gate to the Bering Strait.

"A" represents the Novosibirsk Islands, also known as the New Siberian Islands. (Photo: Google Maps)

"Our troops left there in 1993, and yet it is a very important location in the Arctic Ocean, a new stage in the development of the Northern Sea Route," Putin told a meeting of Russian defense officials.

"We will not only reopen the military base but restore the airfield to working order and make it possible for the emergency services, hydrologists and climate specialists to work together to ensure the security and effective work of the Northern Sea Route."

Russia Today quotes Army General Arkady Bakhin, Russia’s First Defense Minister, as going a step further: "We have come, or rather permanently returned, to where we belong, because it is originally Russian land."

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan Frisday, Sept. 13, 2013. (Photo: AP)

The move comes as Russia grows increasingly dominant on the world stage, propelled forward by its handling of the Syria crisis.  Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh said mockingly before President Obama's much-anticipated Syria speech last week that it should have been Putin addressing the nation, not Obama, while Glenn Beck told listeners that "this is the week that America lost its superpower status."

There is considerable strategic interest for Russia in the Arctic, and the country has staked much of its future growth on mining the area's vast energy resources.

Warmer summers have thawed more of the frozen waterways, rendering it navigable for longer periods and raising hopes the maritime passage could become a shorter alternative to southern routes, but industry analysts and mariners say poor infrastructure, ice floes, narrow straits, shallow waters, and stormy winters remain obstacles to safe and profitable shipping.

(Reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

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