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Russian Geographical Society, Northern Fleet gear up for landmark Arctic expedition

The expedition will study the routes and areas of work of the pioneering explorers on Novaya Zemlya

© Nikolai Malyshev/TASS

MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/. The Russian Geographical Society (RGS) has started preparations for a complex years-long expedition to the Novaya Zemlya archipelago together with Russia’s Northern Fleet, the RGS reported on its website.

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"In order to study high latitudes more intensively and the history of exploration, which is full of bright and dramatic events, a scientific group was established in the Northern Fleet that studied and summarized some historical documents. The materials obtained will become the subject for investigation for the complex expedition. The RGS center that is being established in the Northern Fleet will take part in its preparation and organization. Similar centers are being set up on other Russian fleets," the report says.

In 2018, there are plans to follow the routes of the first crossing of the Severny (Northern) and Yuzhny (Southern) Islands, as well as try to uncover World War II arms and military equipment and turn them over to the Northern Fleet’s museums.

The expedition will study the routes and areas of work of the pioneering explorers on Novaya Zemlya, map out locations of military installations, pinpoint battlegrounds and military burials and explore possible airfield locations and deployment sites.

The RGS noted the symbolic fact that the expedition will begin on the 285th anniversary of the Northern Fleet and the 135th anniversary of the first crossing of Novaya Zemlya’s Yuzhny Island.

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