Russia Has Its Eyes on Svalbard — and Has Since Before You Were Born

Spectator Australia · Lisa Haseldine · Tuesday 7 April 2026

Russia Has Its Eyes on Svalbard — and Has Since Before You Were Born

The Spectator reports on Russian strategic interest in Norway's Svalbard archipelago, where Moscow maintains a Cold War-era presence through its Barentsburg settlement and has escalated provocations including GPS jamming and military posturing in the Arctic.

Russia's been eyeing Svalbard since before most of us could spell it — the Arctic's been a strategic chess piece since the 1920 treaty gave Norway sovereignty and everyone else fishing rights. Putin's crowd have been running interference up there for years: GPS jamming, military exercises, keeping their coal mine open at Barentsburg purely as a diplomatic toehold. The Spectator's filed this like a revelation. Mate, the permafrost noticed before the press gallery did.

Also covered by

Spectator Australia
Spectator Australia