Russia’s President Vladimir Putin ordered by decree on 15 December the construction of a non-permanent ice base at the North Pole. The planned Artur Chilingarov Ice Base is to be established on Arctic drifting sea ice near the North Pole and is intended to serve both scientific purposes and short-term stays by various visitors, including tourists. Observers assume that, in addition to research and tourism, the project also serves geopolitical and strategic interests. The first stays at the new camp are scheduled for April 2026.
According to official information, the project is being implemented jointly with the Russian Geographical Society and the Russian Academy of Sciences. The base is named after Artur Chilingarov, who died in 2023 and is regarded in Russia as a central figure in Arctic research.
Operating permanent facilities on drifting sea ice has become increasingly difficult in recent years. The reason is the ongoing thinning and destabilisation of Arctic sea ice. The former privately organised Barneo Ice Camp, which at times served as a seasonal platform for international research and expeditions, was last able to operate regularly in 2018. Other drifting ice stations, including the Russian station “North Pole-40”, also had to be abandoned prematurely over the past decade due to unstable ice floes. In addition to scientific purposes, such stations have repeatedly fulfilled symbolic functions in the context of Arctic presence policy.
Usage concept and logistics
The planned Chilingarov Base is designed as a combined research and visitor facility.
A stay of up to five days is expected to cost at least 3.7 million roubles (around 40,000 euros). Use is limited to the month of April, which is considered a relatively stable time window before rising temperatures further reduce ice stability.
The price reflects the high logistical effort required to establish and operate such a camp in the High Arctic. This includes preparatory work, construction and dismantling of infrastructure, charter flights from Krasnoyarsk and Khatanga, specialised equipment, as well as medical and safety provisions. Whether cooperation with the former Barneo Camp is planned remains unclear.
Climatic and technical conditions
Expert assessments point to growing risks in the construction and operation of facilities on drifting sea ice. Multi-year thick ice, which previously served as a reliable foundation, has become significantly rarer in the High Arctic. Crack formation due to warmer temperatures, increased drift movements and a general lack of sufficiently thick ice increase operational uncertainty.
International actors are therefore increasingly shifting polar research to alternative platforms, particularly research icebreakers or floating stations. Since this summer, for example, the newly built French drifting research platform “Tara Polar Station” has been operating in the pack ice around the North Pole. It serves as a mobile scientific laboratory in Arctic sea ice, is operated by the Fondation Tara Océan and aims to collect long-term data on ecosystems, climate change and biodiversity in the central Arctic Ocean.
Russia is also relying on such concepts as a supplement. Since 2022, the ice-resistant floating research platform “Severny Polyus” has been in operation, which is less dependent on the stability of individual ice floes.
Political context
The decree on establishing the ice base is linked to Putin’s participation in the 17th Congress of the Russian Geographical Society in October. There he emphasised the role of geographical research for Russian state planning and scientific development and proposed declaring 2027 the “Year of Geography”.
Following the congress, the Russian president approved an expanded catalogue of state assignments. In addition to participation in the construction of the Chilingarov Base, this includes the development of a unified state textbook series for the school subject of geography as well as the design of expedition and educational programmes. These are also intended to include activities in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
Overall, the North Pole ice base project should be viewed both as a scientific undertaking and as part of Russia’s Arctic policy. The actual implementation and long-term viability of the project will largely depend on climatic, technical and logistical conditions in the coming years.
Artur Nikolayevich Chilingarov (1939–2023) was a Russian polar explorer, oceanologist and politician. He was born on 25 September 1939 in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). Chilingarov participated in numerous Arctic and Antarctic expeditions and led several of them.
He gained worldwide recognition in 2007 through the “Arktika-2007” expedition to the North Pole, during which he played a key role. During the mission, the Russian deep-sea submersibles Mir-1 and Mir-2 reached the seabed at the North Pole and placed a Russian titanium flag there – an event that drew global attention to Arctic geopolitics. In addition, he was a member of the Russian State Duma and received numerous honours, including the titles Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of the Russian Federation. Artur Chilingarov died on 1 August 2023 after a long illness.
Marcel Schütz, PolarJournal
Please note that the original text was written in German and that this version is only a translation.