As talks to end the war in Ukraine continue, Russia’s strategic focus is shifting from southeastern Europe to the north, specifically to the critical Arctic region.
Bomber Fleet Transfer
In this context, the Russian Air Force has just completed an unprecedented movement of military aircraft. Specifically, the Kremlin is said to have ordered the transfer of dozens of strategic bombers to an Arctic region controlled by the country.
According to satellite images taken on March 11 of this year, 45 bombers recently arrived at the Russian Olenya air base, which is located on the Kola Peninsula in northwestern Russia.
The images were recorded at 08:15 on Tuesday and show 10 Tu-95MS Bear-H bombers and 35 Tu-22M3 Backfire-C bombers next to the base’s runway.
Also seen nearby were 5 An-12 Cub transport aircraft, 3 Tu-134UBL Crusty trainers and 4 Mi-8 Hip helicopters.
The concentration of a total of 57 military aircraft, 45 of which are bombers, at a Russian air base in the Arctic is a rare occurrence.
This move by Moscow indicates that the Kremlin will set its sights on the Arctic after it “untangles” the war in Ukraine and finalizes a peace agreement with Kiev and its Western partners.
It should be noted at this point that the Russian air base in Olenya is not far from NATO member states. Specifically, the closest country in the Western alliance is Finland, whose borders are only 150 kilometers from the Russian air force military installation on the Kola Peninsula.
Meanwhile, the Olenya air base is just 90 kilometers from the Russian city of Murmansk. The facility is considered one of the most strategic bases in all of Russia and has been a target of NATO for decades.
Despite the fact that Russia has historically maintained a number of aircraft there, as mentioned above, the presence of 45 strategic bombers is an unprecedented sight.
The aircraft are either expected to take part in some major air exercise, or were moved there to project the power of the Russian air force to the countries of Europe.
Finally, we cannot rule out the possibility that these bombers are preparing a massive raid on Ukraine, since in the past the base’s 3.5-kilometer runway has been used for the takeoff of aircraft that later bombed Ukrainian cities.
