The Russian Defense Ministry plans to establish a coastal defense division in Chukotka in 2018, Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu said at a ministry meeting, reports RIA Novosti.

"We are planning to form a coastal defense division in the Chukotka operations group in 2018," the defense minister said.

He recalled that in July 2015 the ministry planned to establish an integrated system of coastal defense from the southern coast of the Primorye Territory to the Arctic to ensure control over the closed seas of the Kuril Islands and the Bering Strait, provide support for the deployment routes of the Pacific Fleet in the Far Eastern and Northern maritime areas, and enhance combat stability of the maritime strategic nuclear forces.

The minister mentioned that from April to June 2016 the Pacific Fleet conducted an expedition on the Kuril Islands of Matua and Paramushir to study the troop deployment capabilities there.