Although the Arctic is relatively far from the war in Ukraine, tensions have developed in this region, a remote Arctic city where Russian and Ukrainian miners have been working side by side for decades, lsm.lv reports.
The Soviet-era Barentsburg, in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, is home to about 370 people, two-thirds of whom are Ukrainians, most of them Russian-speaking, in the eastern Donbass region and the rest Russians.
The atmosphere has changed since Russia’s repeated invasion of Ukraine, and public opinion is polarized. More than 40 people have left the city since February 24.
Some Ukrainians accuse the Russian state-owned Arktikugol Trust, which manages the Barentsburg coal mine, of sowing disputes among the population.
Meanwhile, Russia’s consul Sergei Gushchin says there are no visible signs of conflict, although he acknowledged that there was some tension and discussion on social networks such as Facebook and Telegram.
According to the tour guide and historian Natalia Maximinina, the long and difficult history of the Soviet Union has taught people that they know when to stop talking about politics.
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