MOSCOW, June 30. /TASS/. The Clean Arctic Movement is organized in Russia for cleanup of the Northern territories and for preservation of the wild nature, the Poseidon Expeditions Polar Travel Club’s founder Nikolai Savelyev told a news conference at TASS on Tuesday.

"Presently, we see the formation of a movement in Russia, which has, probably, a temporary name - Clean Arctic," he said. "Probably, the name will remain. <…> It is a great objective to unite businesses, sciences, public, and volunteer movements for the Arctic cleanup. Moreover, this year, in May, Russia took over the chairing role at the Arctic Council".

The idea to organize this movement came from Captain of the 50 Let Pobedy (50 Years of Victory) nuclear-powered icebreaker Dmitry Lobusov, he continued. For a few decades, the captain has been working in the Arctic and realizes, how much people have left there.

"This program is rather big. The Russian Federation has the biggest Arctic area, and, of course, distances there are huge. <…> On July 5, the Public Chamber will have a meeting on this topic. The first thoughts, the first ideas will be discussed at that meeting of the Public Chamber," he said. "Our polar club, surely, supports the initiative, since we have been in the Arctic for 20 years already".

During the news conference, traveler Fedor Konyukhov stressed the ecology would be one of the tasks during his upcoming expedition on a drifting polar station.

"We have the longest Arctic coastline, the biggest rivers: the Ob, Yenisei, Lena," Konyukhov said. "The rivers are taking everything into the Arctic".

About the expedition

The plan is that Konyukhov will spend 10 days at a drifting polar station, set on ice. During the North Pole expedition in July he will study the intensity of polar ice melting and its drift routes, and will paint a few pictures.

On July 11, the Poseidon Expeditions Polar Travel Club’s first expedition of 124 participants, including Konuykhov, will leave Murmansk onboard the 50 Let Pobedy nuclear icebreaker. The expedition’s details will be available online.