KHATANGA /Krasnoyarsk Region/, August 22. /TASS/. The Russian Geographical Society (RGS) jointly with the Defense Ministry finished the first stage of the Arctic. General Cleanup project to remove decades-old waste from the Khatanga village in the tundra, the expedition's curator Yaroslav Lebedev of the Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas (IBSS, the Russian Academy of Sciences) told TASS.

"Thus [at the first stage of the expedition], we have collected samples for geochemical tests for the source of pollution - something that can harm the health of people living there: samples of the soil surface layer and a couple of vegetation samples to determine which plants may be indicators of this or that pollutant," the expert said.

The expedition's first stage featured about 70 volunteers and specialists of the Russian Geographical Society, as well as military personnel. Local residents, willing to participate in the mission, have joined the cleanup.

"We've seen which pollutants prevail, which objects - they will be included into the plan (for further cleaning). The fact that the cleaning has started is the initiative of volunteers - people are very patriotic about starting here and now. <...> To many of them, it is an honor to clean the Arctic zone, to visit the Arctic and to use their strength for a good purpose. We also eye training of those who will continue this work in the future," Igor Spiridenko, leader of the Russian Geographical Society's Krasnoyarsk Branch, told TASS.

RGS's press service told TASS that, in addition to the research work, the participants had cleaned about three km of the coastline. They removed about 200 tons waste.

The Russian Geographical Society for more than ten years has been supporting projects to clean the Arctic from man-made pollution. Since 2022, the projects are branded Arctic. General Cleanup. Under those projects, RGS has organized mission to the Kildin and the Wrangel Islands in Chukotka - about 300 tons of scrap metal were removed from there. The main stage of cleaning near Khatanga is scheduled for 2024. By that time, experts and scientists will develop a final cleanup plan.