Russia's One-of-a-Kind Nuclear Icebreaker Fleet in Numbers

Russia is the only country in the world that operates a sizeable detachment of nuclear-powered icebreakers that affords the country a lot of options when operating in the ice-packed Arctic waters.

Russia’s nuclear icebreaker fleet, whose origins date back to a single vessel that entered service in 1959, currently numbers nearly a dozen ships that tirelessly work to ensure the safety of navigation in the Russian sector of the Arctic Ocean and along the Northern Sea Route.