Russia voiced pride and defiance on Friday after a landmark expedition to the North Pole seabed that prompted a chorus of mockery in the West for laying a flag on the ocean floor.

A pair of Russian mini-submarines reached the bottom of the Arctic Ocean on Thursday in an effort to advance Russia's claims over the resource-rich seabed....

"I read messages about the statements that my Canadian colleague made. They truly amazed me," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by news agency Interfax as saying during a visit to Manila.... "We're not throwing flags around. We know what we can prove." ....

Russia has already tried to claim undersea rights stretching to the pole, in a 2001 submission to the United Nations. [Times of India]

Apparently Putin's never heard of "international waters."

Not when there's oil involved, anyway.