ARCTIC: Secret Russian Conflict in Svalbard & more – 29th April 2025

Hei from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Arctic Update from the 29th of April twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what’s going down North of the Arctic Circle!

Let’s kick things off with a remarkable tale of a secret conflict taking place in the high Arctic. On Friday the 25th, Norwegian news agency NRK reported that Russian exiles have begun challenging Russia’s ownership of properties on the Arctic islands. Russian state-controlled companies have long held mining claims and properties on Svalbard, but now exiled Russian groups are secretly filing lawsuits to seize those assets.

They argue that these Russian companies are under the control of sanctioned individuals and should no longer operate under Norwegian law. The group says their intention is to sell the land back to the Norwegian state if they win control of the land.

Norway’s government is watching the case carefully, as any changes to Svalbard’s legal balance could have major international repercussions.

Denmark is also wary of its relationship with Russia in the Arctic. On Tuesday the 22nd, Troels Lund Poulsen, the Danish Defence Minister, announced that Denmark will spend over $600 million US dollars on the building and procurement of twenty-six new navy vessels to patrol, respond to oil spills quickly and survey undersea cables in its Baltic and Arctic marine territories.

Denmark is very concerned about the Russian shadow fleet operating illegally in Danish territory, which has been accused by Finnish police of conducting sabotage operations against Finland repeatedly in the last two years, targeting undersea infrastructure.

This funding will be used to upgrade Denmark’s maritime defence to deal with a new kind of threat.

Denmark is keen to show unity as well as strength across its Arctic territory. On Wednesday the 23rd, the Danish Royal Palace announced that King Frederik will visit Greenland next week to show solidarity with the nation that the US has recently made attempts to take control of. King Frederik will visit Nuuk, the capital city, and a military outpost in the far north of Greenland.

​Denmark has finally ended the use of controversial parenting tests on Greenlandic families, completing a story we’ve covered several times as it progressed. On Thursday the 24th, the Danish parliament passed a ban on standardized psychological assessments in child welfare cases involving Greenlanders, following years of criticism that the tests were culturally biased and led to disproportionate child removals.

Instead, municipalities must now consult a new expert unit with knowledge of the Greenlandic language and culture. Critics responded, arguing the law doesn't go far enough as it won't reopen past cases where such tests were used. Advocacy groups continue to push for a full review of previous removals to ensure justice for affected families. ​

Speaking of big shifts, on Tuesday the 22nd, the Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold announced it is selling its fifty percent stake in the Donlin Gold project in central Alaska to billionaire investor John Paulson for over $1 billion US dollars.

Even though both stakeholders say the sale is mutually beneficial, the mine has been caught up in legal battles for years over its environmental impact against the local Native communities, so the mine has delayed beginning operations since twenty twenty-two. If Donlin Gold is allowed to start drilling, it would instantly become one of the world’s largest gold mines, but its location in a major salmon habitat could really hurt local people

There’s controversy in Canada’s mining industry, too. On Tuesday the 22nd, the regional government of the Northwest Territories announced it is giving over $10 million US dollars of tax relief to the three diamond mines located in the territory in order to ease their financial problems.

The Diavik, Ekati and Gahcho Kué mines have all reported large losses in twenty twenty-four with diamond prices at a historic low due to the popularity of lab-grown diamonds. Much of this money is controversially coming from the territory’s carbon tax proceeds — money which is supposed to be paid by companies generating carbon emissions to fund emission reduction projects.

Instead, the carbon tax fund will be used to keep the diamond mines operating in the hope that diamond prices rise soon.

Mining in Canada can be used to improve the lives of its residents as well. On Thursday the 24th, the government of the Tłı̨chǫ native community announced they have signed a ten-year economic benefits agreement with the Canadian government regarding the Giant Mine Remediation Project in the Northwest Territory. The project is a massive environmental cleanup operation to restore the Giant Mine site, which closed in two thousand four, to an environmentally healthy state.

According to the agreement, the government will provide about $1.5 million US dollars annually to the Tłı̨chǫ over the next ten years, which will be used for training and employment programs for Tłı̨chǫ citizens to help them access job opportunities at the project.

On another note, Finland is investing heavily in Arctic infrastructure. On Friday the 25th, national broadcaster Yle reported that Rovaniemi Airport, the main gateway to Finnish Lapland, will undergo a major expansion to handle soaring passenger numbers. The airport has seen record traffic, especially from international tourists seeking Arctic experiences.

Finland is also planning a future Arctic rail link to the Norwegian Sea, investing over $5 million US dollars in feasibility studies. If completed, the rail line would connect northern Finland to the deepwater port of Kirkenes, Norway, providing a vital trade route as Arctic shipping lanes open.

Both projects show Finland’s strategic push to strengthen its economic and logistical ties to the growing Arctic region.

Meanwhile, Iceland’s seas are currently hosting major NATO military maneuvers. NATO published a press release on Thursday the 24th, revealing the details of the Dynamic Mongoose exercise, which began on Monday the 28th and will last until the 9th of May.

During this exercise, some NATO members will practice submarine and anti-submarine warfare strategies in the stretch of Arctic seas from Iceland to Norway.

NATO has called this the most advanced anti-submarine test they’ve conducted.

While there’s been good economic news in the Arctic, the environmental news is alarming. On Monday the 21st, The Seattle Times reported that gray whale populations are collapsing due to melting sea ice. Each year, gray whales migrate thousands of miles from breeding grounds in Mexico and California to their Arctic feeding grounds. But with the Bering and Chukchi Seas losing sea ice, algae that feed crustaceans and fish—the whales' primary food source—are disappearing.

As a result, gray whales are starving in record numbers, with nearly 100 stranded already in twenty twenty-five. Once a symbol of conservation success after rebounding from commercial whaling, the gray whale population has now declined by forty percent over the past decade. Scientists warn that with Arctic food chains breaking down, we could soon witness the first major marine extinction caused directly by climate change.

To learn more about this amazing species before it’s a piece of the past, take a look at the link in the show notes.

And to wrap up this edition, if you like podcasts then there’s some groundbreaking podcast news coming out of Arctic Norway. In a story reported by Norwegian state broadcaster NRK on Friday the 25th, NRK launched the world’s first podcast to be conducted in the Kven language.

The Kven people are a small Indigenous group from Northern Norway and Finland who rarely get any media coverage or attention. But on Saturday the 26th, NRK published six episodes of the Kaffipraatti where Tomi Vaara, the Kven host, talks about the culture and heritage of his people, all in their language spoken by fewer than 10,000 people. An important milestone in keeping disappearing languages alive in the modern age.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

Want to share an episode? You can download any of them as an .mp3 from our website at www.rorshok.com/arctic — the link’s in the show notes too!

Moikka