Deep in the mountains! The British army is preparing for a military clash with Russia

Deep in the mountains, Britain is preparing for a Russian attack. Half a mile deep in a mountain in northern Norway, London is preparing for war, writes Politico, quoted by Focus.

The country's military planners have traveled to Bodo, located between the sea and the snow-capped peaks of the North Pole, to rehearse what it would look like if Russia decided to start hostilities on their doorstep.

The exercise is scheduled for a year after an imaginary ceasefire in Ukraine. It asks the leaders of the Nordic and Baltic countries to calculate what they would do if they were to start tracking pro-Russian civil unrest in their border country.

The defense ministers and generals present are given newspaper reports of the incidents, incomplete intelligence updates, and social media posts, and are asked to decide on the best course of action.

The task is not purely hypothetical. The unexplained attack on a Baltic submarine cable last year, Russian drones and aircraft violating NATO airspace, and the increase in Russian ships threatening British waters have drawn attention to the vulnerability of the so-called “High North”.

Following Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014, Britain took the lead in a group of like-minded European countries in preparing for threats to their northern flank, creating the 10-nation Joint Expeditionary Force.

The question now is whether this alliance can fulfil its potential as the Russian threat changes and the US continues to withdraw from European security under Donald Trump.

While the High North has long been an area of Russian power, Moscow’s methods are diversifying in ways that demand responses from its neighbours.

At the same time The melting of Arctic ice is opening up previously impassable seas and sparking a new race for access and minerals in the region, involving both China and the United States.