On the heights of the hill overlooking Barentsburg on this autumn morning, wooden planks on the ground form a message visible in the distance: "World Peace." In a few days, the first snow will cover these words in Cyrillic before the polar night plunges the Russian-speaking colony and its hope for peace into darkness for several months. "When you can no longer make out the message, you know you've entered the Arctic winter," said Elena Konevskikh, our tour guide.

At first glance, nothing seems to disturb the community's peace and quiet. That's because the small mining town of Barentsburg is not exactly overcrowded, home to nearly 500 residents in the summer, but only 350 in the heart of Arctic winter, when temperatures regularly hover around -30 degrees Celsius. We were on Norwegian soil, on the edge of a narrow fjord in the Svalbard archipelago. It's an unusual location a world away, inhabited mainly by Slavs, Russian and Ukrainian miners who cohabit peacefully and meet up every weekend at the Red Bear, the only bar in the area, a long wooden building overlooking the bay.

Since its discovery in the late 16^th century by the Dutch explorer Willem Barents (1550-1597), this archipelago, whose main island, Spitsbergen, means "pointed mountain" – the "mountains" being the imposing glaciers of this very northerly latitude – has been coveted by whalers, trappers and later mining companies spurred on by the industrial revolution. In 1920, as part of the agreements ending World War I, the Spitsbergen Treaty gave Norway full sovereignty over the archipelago. Svalbard thus became a demilitarized zone in which the signatory states (some 40 to date) enjoy the right to exploit its natural resources.

The fraternity of miners

Near the old coal storage dock whose long blackened collection ponds scar the port of Barentsburg, four wooden houses with faded facades bear witness to the short period between 1920 and 1932 when a Dutch company exploited this carbon-rich coal deposit of excellent quality. In 1932, the concession passed into the hands of Arktikugol, a trust created by the Soviet state.

To find workers, its supervisors turned to Ukraine, a country with a strong mining tradition. Men came from the west, the center and, mostly, Donbas. "The Barentsburg mine is quite similar to those found in Donbas, so it made sense to recruit from this area," explained Konstantin Turinskii, the site's current manager. "Even today, 60% of the workforce is Ukrainian while the remaining 40% is Russian. But regardless of our origins or backgrounds, we have good relations. We make sure to avoid talking about politics in the workplace."

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