Murmansk

In Murmansk, the largest city north of the Arctic circle, President Vladimir Putin vowed to "strengthen Russia's global leadership in the Arctic", while warning that "geopolitical competition in the region" was intensifying.

Russia has a history of training marine mammals such as dolphins for military purposes, and the Barents Observer website has identified whale pens near naval bases in the north-west area of Murmansk.

Russia has a history of training marine mammals such as dolphins for military purposes and the Barents Observer website has identified whale pens near naval bases in the north-west area of Murmansk.

The picture was similar in the other two border regions of Leningrad and Murmansk.

The governor of Russia’s northern Murmansk region recently said the region would be put on “high alert” after Finland announced that it would close all border crossings between the two countries apart from one.