Russia mysteriously closes off Arctic waters for ‘missile landing zone’ near NATO border | World | News

Russia has warned ships and aircraft to avoid large areas of the Barents Sea off northern Norway, designating those areas as “areas of influence for Russian missiles” ahead of the planned space launch.

Areas north of Varanger and northeast of Bear Island will remain restricted until April 30 under an unusually long security notice for the region.

Despite the alarming wording, the “missile” reference is apparently Russian terminology for rocket launches; here the ejected parts of the space rocket are officially classified as crashed “missile elements”.

In this case, the warning probably relates to the launch of Soyuz-2-1b from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome around April 23.

As the rocket ascends, large metal structures known as payload fairings are ejected and fall back to Earth, with two such components expected to splash into designated areas.

Warnings were issued through both aviation and maritime security systems and mariners were advised to avoid areas during the window.

The mission is expected to carry a group of Rassvet broadband satellites that are part of Vladimir Putin’s effort to build a low-orbit internet network to rival systems like Elon Musk’s Starlink.

The Barents Sea, one of the world’s richest fishing grounds, lies partly within Norwegian waters, making such large exclusion zones notable from both a shipping and fishing perspective.

While debris splash zones are routine for rocket launches, the use of “missile strike” language and the size and duration of the warning underscore the scale of the operation just outside NATO territory.