Polyarny is a town on the outermost western side of the Murmansk Fjord with just under 30,000 inhabitants. Founded in 1899, it is one of the oldest towns of the Kola Peninsula.

Russian Shipyard Number 10 -- Shkval -- is located at Polyarny, and in the West is more often referred to by the name of the town than by its official name. As the first nuclear-powered submarines were delivered to the Soviet Northern Fleet at the end of the 1950s, the yard was modified for docking and repair of these vessels. As Soviet (and now Russian) Naval nuclear vessels are decommissioned, they are laid up at Polyarny to await defueling and disposal.