ARKHANGELSK, October 6. /TASS/. The Russian Arctic National Park's specialists will begin exploring new ice caves in the glacier's marginal part on the Alexandra Land Island of the Franz Josef Land archipelago in 2026, the national park's Director Alexander Kirilov told TASS.
"New caves have been found in the glacier's marginal part on the Alexandra Land. But at the time they were discovered, it was, to put it mildly, not too safe to walk into them. It was an active process of iceberg formation. So we decided to hold on. In April [2026], it will be the just the time to enter them without fears, to see what there is and where, how to start exploring, to go through them," he said.
Ice caves may be of different sizes, and they may have several halls. They do not last long, usually for several years. Scientists are studying them to understand processes in caves. On Franz Josef Land, they are available only on the Alexandra Land Island, where the national park has a year-round base. Ice caves develop similar to karst caves, though much faster. "Processes in the ice and in the karst are similar. However, they continue for centuries in the karst, while in ice caves - for three to four years, that is, right as we can watch them," he added.
The previous ice cave was discovered on the Kupol Lunny in 2023, and it has changed significantly since then. "Most halls have disappeared, there have been collapses, and we can speak about its degradation, it is deterioration," the park's director said.
The ice cave that Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev visited on the Alexandra Land in 2017 has disappeared already, the scientist added.
The Russian Arctic National Park is Russia's northernmost and largest specially protected natural area. The park takes the northern part of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago's Severny Island, and the entire Franz Josef Land Archipelago. The national park is a most inaccessible territory in Russia and in the world.