MOSCOW, September 29. /TASS/. The passage of a Northern Fleet naval detachment through the Shokalsky Strait has demonstrated that its sailors are the "true masters of the Arctic," military expert and retired Captain 1st Class Vasily Dandykin has said.

"The Northern Fleet has shown that it can operate at higher latitudes - where other warships have not ventured - and demonstrated who the true masters of the Arctic are. This is crucial from the standpoint of combat resilience," he said.

In Dandykin’s view, the passage through the Shokalsky Strait was made possible by the Northern Fleet’s enhanced technological capabilities, in particular the inclusion of the Ivan Papanin ice-class patrol ship in the detachment.

"Should an adversary approach our Arctic territory, we now have another means - beyond diplomacy - to neutralize the threat: the Northern Fleet," Dandykin concluded.

On September 29, the Northern Fleet’s press service announced that, for the first time in the history of the Russian Navy, its ships had entered the Kara Sea through the Shokalsky Strait as part of an Arctic deployment.