Today, according to the Russian newspaper "Izvestia", Russia has formed a new aviation regiment to protect the Arctic shipping lanes from the threat of NATO. At a time when the Russia-Ukraine war is tight, in fact, this matter is not so simple. While Finland and Norway are joining NATO at an accelerated pace, in the north of Russia the pressure on Russia is far less intense than in its south and west. Together with the newly formed Leningrad Military District, it is quite capable of coping with pressure from the borders of Finland and Norway.
But why does Russia want to make a big move, when the Russian-Ukrainian war has not yet ended and military resources are extremely scarce, it is eager to form an aviation regiment to protect the Arctic shipping lanes, which are not urgent at present. This has to start with Russia's national strategic security.
Judging by the information published by the Russian side, the newly formed Leningrad Military District and the Northern Fleet have their respective areas of responsibility. The Leningrad Military District will be responsible for the defense of the borders with Finland and Norway. The Northern Fleet will be responsible for protecting ships at important naval bases, islands, Arctic shipping lanes, the Barents Sea and other seas.
Russia's military reform this time is very large, and it is completely aimed at large-scale conflict and confrontation with NATO. Not only will the original military strength be expanded from 1 million to 1.32 million, but more importantly, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu recently said at an enlarged meeting of the Ministry of Defense that this year will form two fully equipped combined group armies of all arms, 50 corps and military units, including 4 divisions, 18 brigades, 28 regiments and 1 mixed aviation corps. The most important thing is to set up a new aviation regiment, equipped with Il-76 and An-26 transport aircraft, and Mi-26*** to cooperate with various types of fighters and missile air defense forces to ensure the safety of the Arctic shipping lanes, and if necessary, to expel ships and fighters from unfriendly countries to enter.
It can be seen from this that Russia's main purpose is to focus on the protection of its economic lifeline, especially the safe transportation of oil and gas resources to the Asia-Pacific region through the Arctic shipping routes, in the face of tight front-line wars.
With the irreversible acceleration of global warming, the role of the Arctic shipping route in the stable transportation of Russian oil and gas resources has become increasingly prominent. Coupled with the large-scale development of the Russian Far East, Russia has set its strategic sights on the Asia-Pacific region for the first time, because in the south, the complex and changeable geopolitical situation will cut off its energy channel at any time, and the outbreak of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will further worsen the situation of the international waterway to the south. In the west and southwest, the United States and Europe encircled and intercepted, and this road was not open at all. However, Russia is unwilling to rely on its eastern neighbor for its economic security, and opening up imports and exports to the Asia-Pacific region through the Arctic shipping route has become the first choice of last resort.
In order to solve the problem of the security of the Arctic shipping routes, it is first necessary to counter the threat of Japan, South Korea and the United States ** bases to their shipping waterways.
From this point of view, the core of Russia's current military reform is to protect the large-scale development of the Far East and the safety of the transportation of resources in the Arctic shipping routes, which further proves that Russia has given up the illusion of developing relations with NATO and has completely shifted its national strategy to the Asia-Pacific region. As for countering pressure from NATO, it is only a powerful guarantee under this large-scale military reform. List of high-quality authors