Safe Arctic 2023 Exercises to Be Held in Nine Arctic Regions of Russia

            Interagency experimental research exercises of the forces and means of the Unified State System of Prevention and Response to Emergencies in the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation (Safe Arctic 2023) will be conducted on 6–7 April in nine regions of Russia’s Arctic zone. The exercises will be organized and coordinated by the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations.

The participants will practice mitigating the consequences of different simulated incidents in the Far North. The exercises will be held as part of the events of Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2021–2023, which are managed by the Roscongress Foundation.

“In total, specialists will work on 16 practical exercise situations, each of which is divided into stages in various environments: underground, on water, on land, and in the air. The coordinated actions of the forces and means of the [Unified State System of Prevention and Response to Emergencies] will be demonstrated by mitigating the consequences of different simulated incidents in the harsh conditions of the Arctic: at production facilities involving transport, the release of hazardous chemicals, amidst an emergency power outage and loss of communication, and during a plane crash, an accident on a ship, man-made fires of varying degrees of complexity, spills of petroleum products, and the collapse of buildings,” Minister of Emergency Situations Alexander Kurenkov said.

More than 20 federal executive bodies, two state corporations, ten business entities, as well as representatives of nine African, Latin American, and Eurasian countries have confirmed they will participate in the pilot exercise.

In addition, the Ministry of Emergency Situations will conduct a research expedition in the Arctic in the run-up to the exercises, from 27 March to 7 April. The expedition participants will practice the latest rescue methods in the event of possible accidents and conduct comparative tests of Russian-made models of all-terrain vehicles, equipment, gear, and property that are designed to ensure safety in the Arctic. Over 12 days, 76 participants will cover more than 1,600 kilometres across three Russian regions – the Nenets Autonomous District, the Komi Republic, and the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District. Aviation equipment will be actively used during the expedition.

Another event timed to coincide with the Safe Arctic 2023 exercises will be Safety Week at kindergartens, schools, as well as secondary vocational and higher education institutions in all Arctic regions. From 3 to 7 April, a specific theme will be covered each day: teaching about life safety, fire safety, safety in natural and man-made environments, evacuation training, etc.

The previous Safe Arctic exercises were held in September 2021 in seven regions of Russia’s Arctic zone and also took place as part of Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council. Roughly 6,000 specialists practiced different scenarios for mitigating simulated emergencies. During the manoeuvres, 47 new models of machinery, equipment, and methodologies were tested.

Russia is chairing the Arctic Council in 2021–2023. A cross-cutting priority of Russia’s chairmanship is to ensure responsible governance for the sustainable development of the Arctic with a social, economic, and environmental balance. Key tasks for the Arctic include developing cooperation to prevent and respond to emergency situations. As part of its chairmanship, Russia intends to help strengthen cooperation in identifying and analysing the risks of natural and man-made emergencies, developing ways to prevent them, and improving measures to protect the population and territories against emergencies and fires.