In the past six years, Russia has built 475 military sites along its northern border. The Kola peninsula and the archipelagos of the Barents Sea have seen dozens of new airstrips, bunkers and bases.

The unprecedented new military buildup has experts concerned about devastating results for these delicate Arctic ecosystems. It is already among the most polluted places on Earth. Currents that carry warm water from the Atlantic Ocean into the Barents Sea make it one of the world’s great marine garbage patches, while decades of Soviet nuclear tests, the dumping of radioactive waste, and industrial pollution have left many waterways highly toxic, contributing to elevated rates of disease among local people.