Russian President Vladimir Putin has told his military leadership they should build up their forces in the Arctic as a priority.
Commending the recent restoration of an airfield in the region, he said Russia needed to use every means to protect its national interests in the region.
He was speaking after Canada announced plans to claim the continental shelf under the North Pole.
Russia and Denmark also lay claim to parts of the resource-rich shelf.
It is a sign of the growing manoeuvring by the Arctic nations for the potentially valuable resources beneath the northern seas.
The Arctic is estimated to have 30% of the world’s undiscovered gas and 15% of the undiscovered oil. Climate change and advances in drilling technology mean these reserves are becoming easier and cheaper to exploit.
Putin said: ‘Next year, we have to complete the formation of new large units and military divisions (in the Arctic).’
• A senior government minister warned on Wednesday that Russia could retaliate with a nuclear strike if a new US military strategy threatened its security.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said that Russia was ‘preparing a response’ to plans by the United States to develop a new fast-strike weapons platform capable of hitting high-priority targets around the globe.
He told the State Duma that the development of a global strike programme was ‘the most important new strategy being developed by the United States today’.