Many countries, including those with no direct access to polar regions, are now active in the Arctic, said Army General Nikolai Pankov, Russian State Secretary and Deputy Defense Minister.

"Some of them seek to expand their territories by laying unfounded claims to stretches of the continental shelf and islands of the Arctic Ocean. A wide range of potential threats and challenges to Russia's security are taking shape in the Arctic," he said as quoted by the Rossiya Segodnya news agency.

Pankov noted that the Defense Ministry is an active participant in securing national projects, including in the Russian Arctic. He added that the region continues to command the attention of Russian scientists, ecologists, entrepreneurs, experts and environmental organisations.