Putin has continued building up these forces even while his main army is at war in Ukraine, showing just how important the Arctic is to him. The reason for this is these forces guard the Northeast Passage, which the Russian leader hopes will one day rival the Suez Canal as the main artery carrying trillions of dollars of global trade from Asia to the West. At the moment, the route is mainly used to transport Russian gas and oil from huge new drilling operations deep in the Arctic to the likes of India and China, which have become Putin’s main customers after the West cut him off. #fyp #northpole #frontline #nato #putin #russia #arctic #wartok #war #battle #vladimirputin #worldnews #news