Putin's envoy, who recently fought in Ukraine, says Russia will stand up for its rights on Svalbard

Yuri Trutnev, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and President Putin's envoy for the Far Eastern Federal District, chaired a session of the Russian government commission on the country's presence on Svalbard this week. Opening the session, he said that, with international tensions rising, Russia wants to keep every right it has acquired there. The Barents Observer notes that similar statements were made at the commission's meeting last year.

Trutnev is 69 years old and is described as one of the main Russian envoys on Arctic affairs. Svalbard is Norwegian land, Russia is represented there by Trust Arktikugol (Russia's state-owned company on Svalbard), and this presence follows the Svalbard Treaty, the Barents Observer said.

At the session Trutnev thanked Ildar Neverov, the director of Arktikugol, saying the company's activity has grown considerably since he took the post. Trutnev said the company has resisted actions by Norwegian authorities in recent years, and that more than 900 million rubles from the federal budget have been allocated to support it. Since 2022 Arktikugol has come under a federal ministry for Far East and Arctic development. Trutnev also said Russians remain open to international cooperation in the Arctic.

The article also covers Trutnev's role in the war against Ukraine. A few months ago he was at the front line in occupied territory with a sniper rifle. In an interview with a Russian media figure, he described firing at Ukrainians from a damaged building in Vuhledar. Russian forces took the city in October 2024 after heavy fighting and thousands of casualties. Its population once exceeded 15 thousand, and it is now in ruins. Trutnev named reconstruction of what he calls Russian territory a main priority and said he was very satisfied with his part in the capture of Vuhledar.

Reportedly, four of his deputies have also fought in occupied territory, and he has helped recruit officials from the Russian Far East for the war. Over several years he has had a leading part in setting up military-style structures in Russia. Among those who started VOIN, a youth organisation with a militarised format, was Trutnev as well.