Kotelny Island, Russia( CNN) Six time zones east of Moscow, on the frozen landscape of the New Siberian Islands, a new military race is taking shape.

Situated in a vast scenery of blinding white above the Arctic Circle, the Kotelny base is closer to Alaska than to Moscow. It is one of three new Russian bases above the 75 th parallel, part of a larger push by President vladimir putin to flex his country's military muscle across its massive Arctic coastline. The Russian military says it has built 475 military sites in the past six years, spanning from the country's western frontier with NATO borders to the Bering Strait in the east.

Russia's Northern Fleet moved into the base in 2016. There, military personnel don't have to face the harsh Arctic weather unless on duty. The “closed cycle” base has its residential and operations blocks, interconnected and the only standalone building there is a tiny Orthodox chapel some 20 meters from the heart of the base.