The role of science in the defense of geopolitical interests of Russia in the Arctic

Retrospectively in historical perspective, the researches on the sub-Arctic and Arctic territories of Russia are considered. In their basis are the ideas of M.V.Lomonosov about the role of the Northern sea route in the fate of the Russian state. Search for "Northwest passage" becomes state and scientific problem. Well-known scientists, major industrialists, entrepreneurs and some politicians took part in the solution of the problem. The role of the state until the early XX century was insignificant. But with the claims of foreign States for belonging to Russia land and maritime Arctic territories, the Arctic has become of strategic importance. The situation was particularly exacerbated by the First world war. In this regard, intensified scientific researches started. They primarily demonstrated the wealth of the resource base of the Arctic regions of the country and substantiated the directions for future socio-economic development of the regions. In a short space of time the peripheral regions, especially in the Western Russian sector, were involved in the national economy. There the academic insti- tutions began to be established. That allowed the Northern regions to take a strategic position in the formation of the industrial and mineral-raw material base of the USSR. In the 1990s, the North was abandoned. In all spheres of life, especially social, the degradation and destructive processes began. The Arctic policy of the state was practically absent. Its establishment, relying on the developments of scientists began only in the early 2010s. The basis created by aca- demic and industrial science allowed the author to make a number of judgements about priorities for the future development of the Russian Arctic in the Western and Eastern sectors, including the Republic of Komi (Vorkuta industrial area).