On July 21, a group of the Russian Geographical Society arrived aboard the “Ilya Muromets” icebreaker, which will soon take part in the Complex Expedition of the Northern Fleet to the Arctic. With the arrival of the representatives of the Russian Geographical Society, the formation of the expeditionary teams was completed.
On board the icebreaker, the Scientific Director of the Complex Expedition of the Northern Fleet, Colonel, Sergei Churkin, held an alignment meeting with the members of the expeditionary teams, during which they discussed the details of the joint work of military and civilian researchers. He noted that "this year the expedition will cover Severny Island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, as well as a part of the continental coast of the northern seas, in particular the Taimyr Peninsula and Chukotka."
Another feature of the expedition, which will take place in the year of the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, is that the Russian Geographical Society is represented not only by the scientific and media groups, as it was last year, but also by a search team from the “Arctic Front” movement.
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The complex expedition to the Arctic will be carried out by two expeditionary teams. The first of them will be headed by the representative of the 12th Main Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Captain 2nd Rank, Sergei Zinchenko.
A group of military men and scientists will sail across the Barents Sea to Severny Island of the Novaya Zemlya on the MB-12 seagoing tug of the auxiliary fleet. The expeditionary team will reconstruct the route of the expedition of the famous Arctic explorer, Vladimir Rusanov, which he completed 110 years ago in 1910.
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The scientists also plan to monitor cultural and natural heritage sites on Novaya Zemlya, study the ecological state of the territory, and perform a number of important biological observations. Weather permitting, the expedition will last two to three weeks.
The second expeditionary team will be led by a representative of the Kola Flotilla of All-arms Forces, Captain 3rd Rank, Dmitry Myasnikov. His team will go to the Arctic aboard the “Ilya Muromets” icebreaker of the Northern Fleet, and will be engaged in research and prospecting activities on the coast and archipelagos along the Northeast Passage, from the Kara Gates to Chukotka, for several months.
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A comprehensive study of the Arctic archipelagos began in 2018 at the initiative of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral Nikolai Evmenov, who was then in command of the Northern Fleet. It was supported by the President of the Russian Geographical Society, Sergei Shoigu. The first expedition explored Novaya Zemlya in 2018, the second - the islands of Franz Josef Land in 2019.
During the expeditions, the servicemen of the fleet, acting side by side with the scientific groups of the Russian Geographical Society on the Arctic islands, reconstruct the routes of the pioneers, restore historical and cultural monuments, and carry out ecological, biological and other research. The sailors of the Northern Sea fleet carry out all the activities without attracting additional funds, combining them with planned combat training activities.