Russia has dispatched a submarine to the Arctic Ocean to plant a flag on the seabed of the ocean to claim the North Pole as its territory.

Russia plans to plunge to the bottom of the sea in the next few days to take samples it believes will prove the Lomonosov Ridge, which runs under the Arctic Ocean, is an extension of the Siberian continental shelf and therefore Russian territory.

If a country is able to prove the continental shelf is connected to their land, under a UN convention it will be able to claim sovereignty over the North Pole, a land the size of Western Europe, and all of its fuel and mineral deposits.

The Russians will also plant a one-meter titanium flag at the bottom of the sea to symbolize their claim. The sea depth of the North Pole has been measured at 13,410 ft (4087 m).

Some people believe that the Russian's Arctic expedition is aimed at sending a clear signal to world powers that Russia has shrugged off its post-cold war weakness and will be aggressively pushing and defending its national interests from now on.

'The Arctic is Russian. We must prove the North Pole is an extension of the Russian coastal shelf. Of course, [the expedition] is important in terms of science, but also in terms of geopolitics as well,' Artur Chilingarov, Russia's most famous explorer leading the mission told the media.

Although Denmark and Canada have also been trying to prove their claim over the Arctic Ocean through their control over Greenland, the closest country to the North Pole, Russia's new expedition was able to provoke the most propaganda from the West.

Russian state-run TV also had a field day presenting all of the recent news regarding the expedition, following a mysterious aircraft's appearance above the Russian submarine last week. The Russian media reported the aircraft to be a NATO spy plane.

There is a lot of speculation whether the 460,000-mile territory Moscow is planning on claiming has a lot of mineral reserves or not. However, it's clear that in the energy-starving world today, the North Pole can have substantial influence on various issues around the world.

There is a growing tension for Arctic resources between the U.S. and the Russian Federation.

Canada, under Steven Harper, is becoming heavily involved in these tensions. Prime Minister Harper has made statements declaring that Canada will militarise its Arctic region to protect the area. In reality this is part of an effort to secure Arctic energy resources for U.S. energy interests as part of the North American Union.

(source Battle for the Arctic has begun)

Alternative view on the story on Al Jazeera. but nothing in the UK news about it.