Russia in the Arctic - a cause for concern?

Little Diomede Island is the last US possession before entering Russian territory just a few miles away.If the Eskimos that live there venture too close to Russia,Russian border guards in watchtowers yell at them or even fire warning shots.There are no US troops on Little Diomede.The Eskimos help keep an eye on Russia with a spotting scope.US Air Force fighter jets from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson,Alaska intercept any Russian aircraft approaching US airspace.*
There's not an enormous amount of concern in the US military about what Russia is doing on the ground in the Arctic,says Stephen Lee Myers,New York Times correspondent.The US Coast Guard is strained by the resources it has to deploy in the Arctic.From the NATO perspective,it's not necessarily provocative.What is,is Russia's aggressive air patrolling along the Arctic and Baltic.It's an era of testing and provocation.*
Marlene LaRuelle of George Washington University says the Russian FSB Arctic Brigade is a Coast Guard of the border.It would be a very modest thing with 50-60 people up there for search and rescue if anything happened.What's going on is more domestic,managing crisis more than anything else.
Apart from Murmansk,the focus for Russia is primarily domestic security.Russia's not just concerned with oil and gas,but mineral extraction as well to support Arctic cities.Our only infrastructure in the Arctic is the US Coast Guard seasonal presence.We don't have the aspirational view that the Russians do.*
We're starting to see the Russian facilities are dual use,but we don't know what use.We need to get our arms around it.We're starting to see warning signs,cautioned Heather Conley of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.*
According to Russia's official RIA Novosti news agency,former Soviet bases in the Arctic are being reactivated in response to renewed NATO interest in the region.The airstrip in Novaya Zembla can now accommodate fighters and part of the North Fleet is establishing quarters there.A new far north military group of two brigades totaling 6,000 soldiers will be deployed in Murmansk and then the Yamal-Nenets autonomous region.Radar and ground guidance systems are planned for Franz Josef Land in Novaya Zemlya,Wrangel Island and Cape Schmidt.The FSB is increasing the number of border guards on Russia's northern perimeter.*