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Unrivaled nuclear giants: How Russia created the world’s most powerful icebreaker fleet
Unrivaled nuclear giants: How Russia created the world’s most powerful icebreaker fleet
Arctic.ru: Discover how Russia implements its development goals in the Arctic and the Far East
2026-07-15T10:00
2026-07-15T10:00
2026-07-15T10:00
expert opinion
northern sea route
/img/07ea/07/02/1573731_0:222:3072:1950_1920x0_80_0_0_d23a7e3b5cd1af0b543111acb5070160.jpg
Russia has the largest icebreaker fleet in the world, and builds unique powerful vessels.Some countries have tried to repeat our experience but so far to no avail. For example, U.S. President Donald Trump has disclosed the failed attempt to build a new American icebreaker. As a result, the United States only has one obsolete model, while Russia has 48 icebreakers.Sergey Zybko, Director General of Glavsevmorput (Main Directorate of the Northern Sea Route), has told Arctic.ru about the development of Russia’s icebreaker industry and explained why other countries can’t catch up with Russia.President Trump has acknowledged that the United States is badly short of icebreakers. It has “only one” operational heavy polar icebreaker, while Russia has a large icebreaker fleet. He added that the Americans tried to make their own icebreaker but failed.This design error leads to an increase in ice load. When crashing down, the icebreaker doesn’t break the ice but only crashes it. Excessive load can lead to damage to ship components or even a marine accident.From Yermak to RossiyaRussia solved the problem of load distribution at the end of the 19th century, when it built one of the first icebreakers, Yermak, with a bow and stern heeling and trimming tanks system. They allowed to rock the vessel, increasing its power to break the ice and helped free a ship from the ice. Yermak served as the prototype for many generations of Russian icebreakers, including nuclear-powered ones.Russia’s icebreaker fleet continued to develop. The world’s first nuclear icebreaker Lenin, more powerful than any in the world, was built in 1959. During its 30-year-long service, it guided 3,741 vessels through the ice and covered 654,400 nautical miles.Director General of Glavsevmorput Sergey Zybko told Arctic.ru that Russia has the largest icebreaker fleet in the world.Autonomy and fantastic power: Main qualities of modern icebreakersRussia’s Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreakers are technologically the most advanced and powerful vessels of this class that are not built anywhere else in the world. Sergey Zybko pointed out that the main feature of these icebreakers is a nuclear-turboelectric powertrain that allows these vessels to work five to seven years without refueling and recharging, whereas ordinary diesel electric icebreakers need periodic bunkering to replenish fuel.“The crew only needs to take care of daily maintenance, which is a major advantage. It implies complete autonomy for a long time, without the need to move away from ice conditions of the Northern Sea Route. It is a very large advantage for modern icebreakers,” Zybko added.The nuclear-turboelectric powertrain of Project 22220 icebreakers reach a capacity of 60 MW, while gas carriers can reach a maximum shaft power of only 45 MW. At the same time, Russia is building a novel Rossiya icebreaker at the Zvezda shipyard.“This icebreaker will have 120 MW of shaft power and a speed of 15 knots in 2-meter-thick ice. It will be able to move at a speed of 2 knots in 4-meter-thick ice. This is a fantastic achievement,” Sergey Zybko said.Another distinguishing feature of Project 22220 icebreakers is their dual-draft design.The ability of Project 22220 icebreakers to increase their draft and thereby their capacity allows them to break 2.5-meter-thick ice.The secret of the Russian icebreaker fleetSergey Zybko believes that one of the main reasons why Russia has built an unrivaled icebreaker fleet is our engineering tradition, which has been passed down generations since the Soviet period.The expert believes that Russia has expanded its presence in the Arctic thanks to the development of its icebreaker fleet, in particular, by developing the Northers Sea Route not only westward but also eastward and attracting new partners.“We have achieved the level of year-round navigation in the Arctic. Other countries have seen that they can reduce delivery time by using the Northern Sea Route and Russian icebreakers, which can guide commercial vessels by the routes which nobody used before,” Sergey Zybko said in conclusion.
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2026
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/img/07ea/07/02/1573731_341:0:3072:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_0c685ad4e98435ef47fdcc0a4c555d8f.jpgexpert opinion, northern sea route
Russia has the largest icebreaker fleet in the world, and builds unique powerful vessels.
Some countries have tried to repeat our experience but so far to no avail. For example, U.S. President Donald Trump has disclosed the failed attempt to build a new American icebreaker. As a result, the United States only has one obsolete model, while Russia has 48 icebreakers.
Sergey Zybko, Director General of Glavsevmorput (Main Directorate of the Northern Sea Route), has told Arctic.ru about the development of Russia’s icebreaker industry and explained why other countries can’t catch up with Russia.
President Trump has acknowledged that the United States is badly short of icebreakers. It has “only one” operational heavy polar icebreaker, while Russia has a large icebreaker fleet. He added that the Americans tried to make their own icebreaker but failed.
“We tried making one but it was too front heavy, it wouldn’t have worked because an icebreaker has to come crashing down. And when the front weighs four times more than the back, bad things happen, so I realized we didn’t know what the hell we were doing. You know, Russia has 48 and we have one very old one, it’s ridiculous,” he said in the Commencement Address at the US Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut.
This design error leads to an increase in ice load. When crashing down, the icebreaker doesn’t break the ice but only crashes it. Excessive load can lead to damage to ship components or even a marine accident.
From Yermak to Rossiya
Russia solved the problem of load distribution at the end of the 19th century, when it built one of the first icebreakers, Yermak, with a bow and stern heeling and trimming tanks system. They allowed to rock the vessel, increasing its power to break the ice and helped free a ship from the ice. Yermak served as the prototype for many generations of Russian icebreakers, including nuclear-powered ones.
Russia’s icebreaker fleet continued to develop. The world’s first nuclear icebreaker Lenin, more powerful than any in the world, was built in 1959. During its 30-year-long service, it guided 3,741 vessels through the ice and covered 654,400 nautical miles.
Director General of Glavsevmorput Sergey Zybko told Arctic.ru that Russia has the largest icebreaker fleet in the world.
“Russia has over 40 icebreakers, including eight nuclear-powered ones. <…> This is our key advantage that sets us apart from other countries. No other country has nuclear-powered icebreakers,” he said, adding that Russia is currently building three cutting-edge nuclear icebreakers Leningrad, Stalingrad and Rossiya.
Autonomy and fantastic power: Main qualities of modern icebreakers
Russia’s Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreakers are technologically the most advanced and powerful vessels of this class that are not built anywhere else in the world. Sergey Zybko pointed out that the main feature of these icebreakers is a nuclear-turboelectric powertrain that allows these vessels to work five to seven years without refueling and recharging, whereas ordinary diesel electric icebreakers need periodic bunkering to replenish fuel.
“The crew only needs to take care of daily maintenance, which is a major advantage. It implies complete autonomy for a long time, without the need to move away from ice conditions of the Northern Sea Route. It is a very large advantage for modern icebreakers,” Zybko added.
The nuclear-turboelectric powertrain of Project 22220 icebreakers reach a capacity of 60 MW, while gas carriers can reach a maximum shaft power of only 45 MW. At the same time, Russia is building a novel Rossiya icebreaker at the Zvezda shipyard.
“This icebreaker will have 120 MW of shaft power and a speed of 15 knots in 2-meter-thick ice. It will be able to move at a speed of 2 knots in 4-meter-thick ice. This is a fantastic achievement,” Sergey Zybko said.
Another distinguishing feature of Project 22220 icebreakers is their dual-draft design.
“They can reduce the draft to operate in the estuaries of Siberian rivers and increase the draft and weight when operating in the sea, increasing their efficiency in thick sea ice. In the past, we build different icebreakers for operation in rivers and in the sea. Dual-draft icebreakers have solved this problem,” the expert said.
The ability of Project 22220 icebreakers to increase their draft and thereby their capacity allows them to break 2.5-meter-thick ice.
The secret of the Russian icebreaker fleet
Sergey Zybko believes that one of the main reasons why Russia has built an unrivaled icebreaker fleet is our engineering tradition, which has been passed down generations since the Soviet period.
Sergey Zybko believes that one of the main reasons why Russia has built an unrivaled icebreaker fleet is our engineering tradition, which has been passed down generations since the Soviet period.
The expert believes that Russia has expanded its presence in the Arctic thanks to the development of its icebreaker fleet, in particular, by developing the Northers Sea Route not only westward but also eastward and attracting new partners.
“We have achieved the level of year-round navigation in the Arctic. Other countries have seen that they can reduce delivery time by using the Northern Sea Route and Russian icebreakers, which can guide commercial vessels by the routes which nobody used before,” Sergey Zybko said in conclusion.
