"Top Russian legislators question Norwegian sovereignty over Svalbard"

I'm not entirely sure what the Russian play is here. It might be as straightforward as securing access to the Atlantic for Russia's Arctic-based submarines:

Going back to December's Geopolitics: "Moscow aims to enhance presence in Svalbard as part of hybrid-strategy, expert warns":

....Military speaking, Svalbard is of great strategical importance, located between the Barents-, Greenland-, and Norwegian Seas. The one controlling Svalbard is also likely to control the important gateway from the shallow Barents Sea to the deeper North Atlantic.

For Russia’s Northern Fleet, the so-called Bear Island Gap between mainland Norway and the archipelago’s southernmost island is key to conducting sea denial operations in and over the maritime areas further south, potentially threatening NATO’s transatlantic sea lines of communication.....

Russian Bastion Defence in relation to Norway and the Bear and GIUK Gaps. 

Source: Mikkola / RAND Europe report 

 

Hmmmm, I see that Alistair MacLean wrote both Ice Station Zebra which takes place on the Arctic drift ice and Bear Island which takes place on a boat off the coast of the island, thus forming a vector with the location of the cable break.

Or it might be a hankerin' for yummy crustaceans: 

"Norway has full supremacy over Svalbard snow crabs, Supreme Court rules" 

Or, with the European return to coal against the backdrop of EU disunity, it might be a desire to restart the Norwegian coal mines and get the European Coal and Steel Community (originally France, Germany, Benelux) up and running again, this time with Russian membership and possible observer status for Norway.

With the Russians, who knows? More after the jump.

From The Barents Observer, June 29:

Norway is violating the Svalbard Treaty from 1920, says Deputy Speaker in the Russian Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev following the Nordic country's unwillingness to facilitate transportation of Russian goods to the archipelago.

The Norwegian decision not to allow the transportation of food supplies destined Svalbard through its border-crossing point at Storskog has triggered anger in downtown Moscow.

The Russians could have shipped the goods from Murmansk to the archipelago themselves, but instead insist that the delivery is made by Norwegian ships from the port of Tromsø.

Two containers with 7 tons of supplies were first sent from Murmansk towards Storskog where they were halted. Like other European nations, Norway has closed its seaports and land border for Russian cargo traffic under the EU’s 5th package of sanctions.

According to Konstantin Kosachev, Norwegian authorities are now deliberately trying to prevent Russian coal miners in Svalbard from getting food supplies. “It is immoral in its essence, and it violates human rights and the principles of humanism,” the legislator writes on his Telegram channel....

....MUCH MORE

Possibly also of interest:

July 2019 Escape From Norway
What dark secret compelled her to run?

February 2020 "Moscow Plays Hard Ball in the High North" 

January 2021 "Norway eyeing deep-sea metal mining future instead of oil"

November 2021 Forget Taiwan, Kashmir, Ukraine and Iran, The Real Geopolitical Hotspot Is Svalbard

December 2021 Geopolitics: "Moscow aims to enhance presence in Svalbard as part of hybrid-strategy, expert warns"

January 2022 "Svalbard Minute by Minute"
Can you feel the excitement?

February 2022   Skulduggery: "'Human activity' behind Svalbard cable disruption"

And many, many more.

And from Icepeople.net (the world's northernmost newspaper): 

Random weirdness for the week of March 29, 2022: Yet another UFO visits Svalbard, where people and NFTs are fleeing toward the sun to be saved from pillagers