YEKATERINBURG, December 28. /TASS/. Strong winds are delaying work of the first Russian meteorite expedition in the Antarctic, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences committee studying the phenomena told TASS on Monday.

"They are located at Russia's Novolazarevskaya station," Professor Viktor Grokhovsky said. "Strong winds up to 30 meters per second prevent them from searching but this has blown the snow from the ice and it will make research work easier," the professor noted, adding that the team hoped to resume its activity in two days.

The expedition set off for the 12 million-ruble ($166,000) project on December 14 and will return to Russia in mid-January.