New Rosneft Oil Field in Far North Destroying Vast Areas of Vulnerable Tundra and Harming Indigenous Peoples who Live There

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Sept. 9 – A Rosneft project to develop oil fields in the far north of the Taymyr Peninsula is already inflicting “unprecedented” harm on thousands of square kilometers of tundra already at risk because of global warming and further threatening the lives of both animals and the indigenous peoples, according to satellite photographer and a Barents Observer analysis.

            As the project is only in its initial stages, the likelihood it will wreak havoc on an enormous swath of Russia’s north and its peoples is great, something especially tragic because outside experts say Moscow’s claims about is future production are greatly exaggerated (ru.thebarentsobserver.com/novosti/novyj-grandioznyj-neftanoj-proekt-putina-ostavlaet-arktiku-v-ruinah/457637).

            And that makes the celebration of what is as yet far from a realized achievement by Rosneft’s Igor Sechin and Russian President Vladimir Putin not only offensive but an indication that neither favors protecting the environment or the population living around places where oil is extracted and transported or is concerned with the truth.

            For a detailed discussion of these problems, see the report by Arctida, an environmental defense organization, available at arctida.io/en/projects/oil-pipeline-on-thin-ice and the discussion of that report at  windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2026/07/more-than-half-of-russias-250000-km-oil.html.