MOSCOW, October 29. /TASS/. A transcontinental polar expedition to cross the entire territory of the Russian Arctic without the use of public roads finished in Russia’s northeastermost region of Chukotka on Sunday.

The welcome ceremony for the expedition, which began on April 14 in Russia’s northwestern city of Arkhangelsk, was held in Chukotka’s administrative center of Anadyr.

"The ‘To the East’ expedition was held along the following route: Arkhangelsk - Naryan-Mar - Vorkuta - Salekhard - Novy Urengoy - Norilsk - Batagai - Chersky - Anadyr. The main goal that the travelers had set was to travel along the summer route crossing the Polar Circle and to demonstrate the possibility of an uninterrupted transport communication in hard-to-access regions of the North," the press service of the Anadyr administration said.

The expedition for the first time crossed Russia’s Arctic territories on wheel-mounted transport. Some stretches of the route have never been accessed by vehicles before.

It was initially planned that the expedition will end in early November in the Far Eastern city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. However, according to the new plan, after a brief rest in Anadyr, the expedition will travel to the Bering Sea and cross to Alaska.

The travelers use four Russian-made Sherp all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), designed in Russia. The expedition has eight members, including Sherp chief designer Alexei Garagashyan and a leading scientist with Russia’s Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, Vladimir Nikolayev.