MOSCOW, April 6. /TASS/. Paratroopers from Russia’s Ivanovo and Pskov airborne divisions and rapid reaction forces from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member states are preparing for landing on a drifting Arctic ice floe, Russian Airborne Force spokesman Yevgeny Meshkov said on Monday.
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"Russian paratroopers are preparing jointly with the rapid reaction force contingents at the Olenya airfield in the Murmansk Region for landing on an ice floe drifting in the Arctic Ocean to participate in a training humanitarian search and rescue expedition to the Arctic Pole," the spokesman said.
Food, materials, fuels and lubricants are also planned to be dropped to the ice floe by parachutes to make provisions for the expedition, he added.
Airborne forces will use Arbalet-2 special parachute systems during the landing, the spokesman said.
"After the landing, the servicemen will practise searching for, providing assistance to and transporting people who may suffer in expeditions, aircraft and ship accidents in extreme conditions of the Arctic Pole," the spokesman said.
During the exercise, the troops will also gain skills in setting up a camp, deploying communications means and practice the methods of moving across snow-covered drifting ice floes amid abnormally low temperatures, the spokesman said.