Safe Arctic 2025: Deepening Russia’s Arctic Advantage
Author: Bogdan Koutsenko
In February 2025, the Russian Emergencies Ministry recently led Safe Arctic 2025, an initiative consisting of numerous experimental research exercises and simulated incidents. The main event of the initiative was a large-scale expedition involving 300 employees of the Ministry, 120 special equipment units, and participants from regional and municipal rescue services. The route — covering 16.5 thousand kilometers of Russia’s Far North over a 35-day period — started in Karelia, bordering Finland, and ended in Pevek, a settlement in Chukotka, Russia’s eastern most administrative region. Safe Arctic 2025 was an impressive display of Arctic mobilization showcasing Russia’s continued and dynamic engagement with the infrastructure, peoples, institutions, and possibilities of the region.
Beyond emergency preparedness, the initiative addressed economic activity and industrial processes, instantiated in the organization of a roundtable on supply chains and economic security. Exercises undertaken by emergency workers involved diverse simulated emergencies, including responses to rail, air, and maritime incidents and target recovery following an avalanche. Other activities centered on Russia’s keystone supply chain and energy projects and featured exercises to recover a damaged ship along the Northern Sea Route and put out fires at extraction sites for oil and LNG.
Over the past decades, Russia has not been an agent of bleeding edge technical or technological innovation. However, the exercises and demonstrations of “Safe Arctic 2025” have signaled the government’s commitment to supporting technological and process innovations for Northern operations. Various products were featured in technical demonstrations, including heat-resistant suits for use in hydrocarbon extraction, hydrogen-powered drones, remote-controlled fire management robots, and imaging technologies for monitoring and reconnaissance. Safe Arctic 2025, while not overtly focused on military operations, builds on Russia’s capacity in the region while further widening the gap between Russia and other Arctic nations in operational readiness and technological edge.
The Russian government has also led efforts to involve non-Arctic countries in its Far North regions. Collaboration with China in supply chains and hydrocarbon development is well-known. Russia has used Safe Arctic 2025 as a showpiece to other countries, sending out invitations to all BRICS member states for attendance. Beyond its practical value, Safe Arctic 2025 is also a diplomatic drive with 50 foreign participants from 20 countries attending events and reporting on the state of Russia’s northern capabilities. An article in Sputnik noted the collaboration between leadership at the Russian Emergencies Ministry and foreign counterparts in Somalia and Serbia, as well as the participation of UAE emergency response workers. According to the Director of the Information Policy Department of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, Roman Okhotenko, Russia will be hosting another series of exercises in May 2025 and will be expected at the World Crisis and Emergency Management Summit 2025 in Abu Dhabi.