Russia Seeks to Acquire Arctic Island

Russia is making a new territorial acquisition that might not be as lush as Crimea, but would be unlikely to incur criticism from the West.

Russia is making a new territorial acquisition that might not be as lush as Crimea, but would be unlikely to incur criticism from the West, The Moscow Times reports.

The Russian navy has completed a cartographic survey of a recently discovered island in the Arctic, which would allow the country to add 1,165 square kilometers of territorial waters around the sliver of land to its possessions, Baltic Fleet spokesman Captain Vladimir Matveyev said Tuesday in comments carried by RIA Novosti.

The island, dubbed Yaya, in the Laptev Sea, was spotted last year by the crews of two Mi-26 transport helicopters on a mission over the area, Russian media has reported.