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At the Atomflot enterprise, the President familiarised himself with the work of the Maritime Operations Headquarters, which supports safe navigation on the Northern Sea Route. General Director of the Main Directorate of the Northern Sea Route (GlavSevmorput) Sergei Zybko briefed the President on the headquarters’ operations.

Vladimir Putin spoke, via videoconference, with captain of the Arktika nuclear-powered icebreaker Alexander Skryabin and the crew.

Director General of Rosatom Alexei Likhachev reported on the possibilities of low-capacity nuclear power generation.

In addition, the President met, on the premises of Atomflot, with participants of Rosatom’s children's scientific and educational expeditions to the North Pole.

* * *

Director General of Rosatom Alexei Likhachev: Mr President,

Let me introduce you to the Maritime Operations Headquarters, Main Directorate of the Northern Sea Route, Glavsevmorput. This control centre for all maritime traffic on the Northern Sea Route was established in 2022. Historically, Glavsevmorput is the Main Directorate of the Northern Sea Route, first under the USSR Council of People’s Commissars, and then under the USSR Council of Ministers.

Legendary figures, Otto Schmidt and Ivan Papanin, were its first heads. Sergei Zybko, former commander of a Northern Fleet submarine and later captain of Christophe de Margerie gas carrier, heads Glavsevmorput today.

I would like to give him the floor now, if I may.

General Director of Glavsevmorput Sergei Zybko: Mr President,

Mr Likhachev has said a few words about history earlier. Yes, a law was signed, and in 2022 the Main Directorate of the Northern Sea Route was created. That year marked the 90^th anniversary of the legendary sea crossing – Otto Schmidt’s expedition when the first passage from Arkhangelsk to the Bering Strait was completed in one shipping season. This is, without a doubt, a great achievement. In 1932, the Main Directorate of the Northern Sea Route was established. As we pay tribute to it and appreciate its achievements, we decided to give its successor the same name.

Mr President, you are now at the Maritime Operations Headquarters of the NSR Main Directorate which carries out the same functions as the space flight control centre for space missions. Our directorate controls everything on the Northern Sea Route. All information – ship traffic, satellite and analytical ice charts, and weather information, as well as dispatch messages from ships – end up here.

All of the above makes it possible to carry out our mission which is to ensure safe navigation along the Northern Sea Route.

Safety depends on proper alignment of icebreakers, the routes that we have developed, and monitoring vessel traffic. We use the multimedia screen to monitor all vessels online. At this point, there are 50 vessels in the NSR waters that are highlighted in red on the screen, and nine nuclear and non-nuclear icebreakers are in operation as well.

Note that active shipping is carried out in the western part of the Northern Sea Route, the Kara Sea. (Points to the screen.) Look at that point. This is the nuclear-powered icebreaker Ural. It is now working on NOVATEK’s Yamal LNG which is one of our key projects, and it is waiting for the Rudolf Samoylovich vessel to arrive in order to take it through the sea channel.

In the Yenisei Gulf, the Arktika nuclear-powered icebreaker is waiting for the Aym motor vessel to arrive. Aym is about to finish unloading construction cargo in the Sever Bay for Rosneft-operated Vostok Oil project. Unloading for Vostok Oil is taking place not only at ports, but also on dedicated ice platforms. The time the river is covered with ice is the best period for delivering construction cargoes along the entire length of the pipeline construction. This cannot be done in the summer.

Mr President, every voyage is important to us, as we need to gradually ease the Northern Sea Route into operation and set it in motion. We have performed some unique pilotage projects. In 2024, the largest container ship operated by a Chinese company passed along the NSR for the first time, and while the usual passage time is from seven to ten days, that container ship made it in five days and 21 hours. We have experience in piloting large-capacity vessels. Regular gas carriers carry 75,000 tonnes. The largest vessel to travel the Northern Sea Route, the bulk carrier Jingo, transported twice the amount, 164,500 tonnes.

Mr President, I would like to point out that you have been watching the demonstration of the headquarters’ operation on Russian software, on the unified digital services platform.

The satellite radar imagery layer is displayed on the screen at the moment. We have begun to use artificial intelligence to analyse these images. This is one of the processed images. You can clearly see the water, which is dark blue, and the ice, which is light blue.

It should be noted that the ice situation has deteriorated over the past few years, and the conditions have become more challenging. Although there is much discussion today about global warming and ice melting in the Arctic, the recent findings by the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute have not confirmed this. According to their observations, no significant changes in the ice cover are expected in the winter-spring period until 2050.

Vladimir Putin: In other words, the navigation period will not become longer?

Sergei Zybko: No, it will not. And not only that, but this year, we had ice in that area which did not melt below Wrangel Island.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, I was told that it was blown by the winds.

Sergei Zybko: And it never melted. In fact, it has served as a cold generator, and the route we have been using for years has changed.

Vladimir Putin: So, until 2050, you do not see any signs that navigation will be longer than it is now, do you?

Sergei Zybko: No, we do not expect it.

Vladimir Putin: Interesting.

Sergei Zybko: We might not yet have enough data to draw long-term conclusions. What we see now, and what scientists say, is objective.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you. That is where the icebreaker Leader should help, right?

Sergei Zybko: Oh, yes, the Leader will help tremendously. As the captain of the Margerie, I know how important it is that the width of the icebreaker coincides with the width of the vessel. If that is the case, we will be able to save a great deal on the operation of ships when there are no additional loads on the hull of a gas carrier or an oil tanker. My golden dream. I didn’t see it come as the captain of the Margerie, but hopefully, I will witness it as the general director of Glavsevmorput.

Mr President, as it happens, our primary source of information for route planning has been radar satellite imagery from Sentinel, a satellite operated by the European Space Agency. For obvious reasons, there are problems with obtaining these images. While we are finding ways to bypass these issues, the images are not always available for the areas we need for navigation. Consequently, we must purchase imagery from China. We are aware that Roscosmos is working on this, with satellites such as Condor, currently operating in test mode. We eagerly anticipate receiving these images for our work.

Yes, there is a problem with obtaining ice data, but we have alternative methods. One of these new options…

Vladimir Putin: Excuse me, but are you prepared to pay for our images the same way you pay our Chinese friends?

Sergei Zybko: We do not pay the Europeans, but we do pay the Chinese. If Roscosmos presents a reasonable commercial offer, we will certainly pay, no less than we pay the Chinese.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, that is the concern. I understand this is about precision. But what if all these conditions are satisfied? This is not just about Rosatom or Atomflot; it is about the economy as a whole. If everyone receives these services for free, then Roscosmos will lack a financial foundation for development. This is a matter that requires careful consideration.

Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Maxim Oreshkin: We have adopted a law that allows for paid services.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, the law permitting this has been adopted, and now we need to take the next step.

Sergei Zybko: Tactical ice reconnaissance using unmanned aircraft systems is one of these new options for obtaining data. Of course, it will not replace satellites.

Typically, when conducting reconnaissance under unclear navigation conditions and in the absence of satellite coverage, the icebreaker must leave the vessel in challenging conditions, navigate around, identify a route, and then return. This process takes both time and fuel.

Instead, the icebreaker can deploy a drone to capture an image and send it directly to the captain’s bridge. This data is also transmitted to our unified digital service platform, which is very important. I would like to note that icebreakers have been operating 365 days a year for the past two years, as Russian companies have already redirected three million tonnes of cargo from the Suez Canal to the Northern Sea Route during the summer-autumn period, and these are the results of the latest navigation. As I mentioned earlier, ice conditions remain challenging even in summer, and at times we do not have enough icebreakers. We recognise this need. Therefore, we believe that building more icebreakers is essential, as demand is high. We are already building bridges across rivers, even in areas with limited transport. Where icebreakers are present, traffic will increase.

I believe that captain of the Arktika nuclear-powered icebreaker Alexander Skryabin, to whom I am passing the floor, will agree with me. Like myself, he is a graduate of the Higher Naval School and served as an officer in the Soviet Navy.

Please give him the floor.

Vladimir Putin: Please, Mr Skryabin.

Captain of the Arktika nuclear-powered icebreaker Alexander Skryabin: Mr President, good evening.

I fully agree with Mr Zybko. We need to build icebreakers, particularly universal nuclear-powered icebreakers.

At present, the flagship multipurpose nuclear-powered icebreaker Arktika is in the Kara Sea, the Yenisei Gulf, waiting for the Aym motor vessel to be ready to leave the port of Sever Bay in order to pilot it to the western ice edge in the vicinity of Cape Zhelaniya, the northern end of Novaya Zemlya.

The weather report is as follows: temperature outside is six degrees below zero, south winds 12–15 m/s, and visibility is about two kilometres. It is snowing. Ice depth in the area of the icebreaker is about two metres for shore ice and up to 1.5 metres for sea ice.

Mr President, the hardest period of navigation is about to start in the water area. The ice will stop growing thicker only in May when low temperatures will start going away. Effective operation of the Northern Sea Route in these harsh conditions can be ensured only with the help of the nuclear-powered icebreakers.

Mr President, all of us here, sailors of the icebreaker fleet, Baltic Shipyard shipbuilders and, I am sure, all shippers can see and sense your direct and immediate involvement in expanding the NSR nuclear icebreaker fleet and the Arctic region as a whole. Thank you very much for that.

Mr President, as a long-time sailor and captain, I can say with confidence that multi-purpose nuclear-powered icebreakers are excellent vessels. For more than 13 years I was captain of the nuclear-powered icebreaker Vaygach. I can say that the new-generation icebreakers are much better in terms of manoeuvrability and, accordingly, passability. Project 22220 is one of a kind. These icebreakers have enhanced bow outlines. As was mentioned earlier, they leave a much wider trail of open water behind them, which is critical for safe piloting in the Arctic latitudes. I believe these multi-purpose nuclear-powered icebreakers will make the Northern Sea Route Russia’s effective transport artery.

That concludes my report.

President Putin: Thank you, Mr Skryabin.

The new ones are better than the ones that we had before. It is the way it should be and it is excellent news. I hope that the ships we will build later… How many are we building now?

Alexei Likhachev: Four are operating, and four more are under construction.

President Putin: And there should be the fifth one, correct?

Alexei Likhachev: Correct.

President Putin: And you haven’t come up with a name for it yet?

Alexei Likhachev: No. We have Leningrad and Stalingrad under construction at this point. We are asking for two more, seventh and eighth, but we have yet to decide on the names.

Mr President, may I add something to what the captain just said? All I need is a minute of your time.

President Putin: Of course, go ahead.

Alexei Likhachev: They are well aware of it but clearly take it for granted. After all, your visit in 2000, in April, when you visited the Rossiya icebreaker, also resulted in an instruction to develop a Project 22220 icebreaker. The decision to develop this project was made back then.

Your second visit in 2007 resulted in an instruction to begin the construction. So, this entire new family of icebreakers that are unmatched in the world has its roots in your instructions. Of course, sailors remember that, and all the books that you signed are kept in the museum. We very much hope that this visit of yours will give another boost to continued expansion of the nuclear icebreaker fleet.

President Putin: We will do just that.