Putin's envoy, who recently fought in Ukraine, says Russia will stand up for its rights on Svalbard
Yuri Trutnev few months ago shot at Ukrainians with a sniper rifle. This week, he chaired a meeting in Russia's so-called Governmental Commission on Svalbard, the Norwegian Arctic archipelago.
"Today, amid the rising international tensions, it is of fundamental importance to us that none of the rights that Russia has acquired […] should be lost," Yuri Trutnev said as he opened the meeting in the Government Commission on Russian presence in the Svalbard archipelago.
The remarks echo statements made in last year's commission meeting.
Svalbard is Norwegian land. Russia is represented at the archipelago with state company Arktikugol. The presence is in line with the Svalbard Treaty.
69-years-old Yuri Trutnev is Deputy Prime Minister and Putin's authorised representative in the Far Eastern Federal District. He is also one of the dictator's main envoys on Arctic affairs.
In the commission meeting, the top official praised the work of Arktikugol, and expressed gratitude to Ildar Neverov, the company's director.
"I want to thank Ildar Neverov, who since he took over the job has significantly boosted the activities of Arktikugol," Trutnev said, according to a video from the meeting.
"Over the last years, the company has opposed the actions of Norwegian authorities. We are doing our best to support it, and more than 900 million rubles have been allocated from the federal budget," he added.
Arktikugol has been managed by the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic since 2022.
According to Yuri Trutnev, Russian "remains open for international cooperation" in the Arctic.
However, the hawkish state official is more a man of war than of cooperation.
Only few months ago, Yuri Trutnev was at the frontline on occupied territory with a sniper rifle in his hands. In an interview with one of Russia's main war propagandists, he described how he was shooting at Ukrainians from a bombed-out building in Vuhledar.
After bloody fighting and thousands of casualties, Russian forces in October 2024 managed to take the Ukrainian city. It used to have more than 15 thousand inhabitants. Today, the city is nothing but ruins, like so many of the places ravaged by Russia.
Yuri Trutnev says it is a key priority to "restore Russian territory," and expresses great satisfaction with his contribution to the conquer of Vuhledar.
Reportedly, four of Trutnev's deputies have also been on occupied territory to fight. In addition, he has been instrumental in recruiting state officials from the Russian Far East to the war.
For several years, the top official has played a key role in the building of new military-style structures in Russia. He was one of the initiators of VOIN, a militarised youth organisation.
