Photos: Putin visits Franz Josef Land

By Arctic Now, Reuters - March 30, 2017
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Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Franz Josef Land, a remote Russian Arctic archipelago, on Wednesday, March 29.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, as well as Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoi and Sergei Ivanov, Putin’s special representative on questions of ecology and transport, also took part in the trip, which came in advance of Putin’s attendance, on Thursday, of an international Arctic forum in Arkhangelsk.

Franz Josef Land is the site of renewed military activity as part of Russia’s broader military expansion in the region. It is also poised to see big growth as a destination for tourists on Arctic cruises.