NATO's Arctic front line watches Russia asnuclear threats increase

KIRKENES, Norway- The Russian city of Nikel is a ghost town.

Norwegian border guards, from their observationtower a few miles away, peer over into the former factory city, which has seen its decline accelerated by Russia's war on Ukraine.

They are the eyes and ears of NATO's northern frontline, across from Russia's naval nuclear weapons base.on the Kola peninsula, hundreds of miles above the Arctic Circle.

"This is where Norway starts, this is where NATOstarts," said Lt. Col. Michael Rozmara, a commander inNorway's border guards, speaking at the Garrison ofSør-Varanger in this tiny Arctic city at the northeasternedge of the Scandinavian state.

Norway's border force is made of ruddy-cheeked,teenage conscripts - men and women - trained tosurvive the punishing physical and mental strain of thefreezing, snow-covered and dark environs, where thesun barely crosses the horizon in the hardest days of the winter.

A small team of conscripts lives at the observationtower overlooking Nikel for stretches of three weeks,watching and patrolling a border they describe ashaving stayed relatively quiet since Russia launched itsfull-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

That's despite plenty of saber-rattling from RussianPresident Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedlysuggested red lines in his war against Ukraine and hasoften referenced the country's massive nuclear stockpile.

This area also garnered global attention in January,when a fighter with the Russian private mercenarygroup Wagner slipped past Russia's border patrols,seeking asylum in Norway.

But such a case was an exception, with Russiaexercising tight security on its side of the border andagainst deserters.