In 1819 Czar Alexander I of Russia authorised an expedition to the south polar region. The men chosen for the expedition were Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev, on Vostok and Mirny ships. They first sighted a continental ice shelf in 1820, since when the exploration of Antarctica has come a long way, with Russian and international scientists making significant discoveries every year.
First Soviet aircrafts in Antarctica
The Soviet geophysical observatory "Mirny" in Antarctica in 1956 that was opened by the participants in the 1st Soviet Antarctic Expedition on February 13, 1956.
Penguins watching the diesel-electric ship "Ob" from the coastline, 1965
Polar explorers next to a deep ice crack in Antarctica
Traffic signs at the Vostok Soviet Antarctic research station in the vicinity of the South Geomagnetic Pole, 1989
Emperor penguins near the Mirny Soviet Antarctic research station, 1989
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© Flickr / Martha de Jong-Lantink
Emperor penguins in Antarctica
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© Photo : Kirill Chikhachev
Russian scientist working at the Vostok station in Antarctica, 2014
