Northern Fleet Hydrographical Service Confirms Discovery of New Russian Islands in Arctic

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian Navy's Northern Fleet said in a statement that its hydrographical service that is currently participating in the expedition to Russia's Franz Josef Land archipelago, located in the Arctic Ocean, confirms that five islands have been discovered there, which have been previously seen from space.

"The objects' size varies from 900 square meters [9,687 square feet] to 54,500 square meters. A topographic survey has been conducted on the new islands, they have been described in detail, and photos have been taken", the Northern Fleet said.

The freshly discovered islands are located off the western coast of Severny Island, near the Nansen Glacier. They were first spotted in 2016 when satellite images of the Wiese Bay were analyzed. Before that, the islands had supposedly been veiled by the glacier.

A wooden hut on the coast of the Tikhaya Bay, Hooker Island, Franz Josef Land archipelago.

© Sputnik / Vera Kostamo

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Between 2015 and 2018, the Northern Fleet's hydrographical experts helped to discover over 30 new islands, bays and capes near Franz Josef Land archipelago and Novaya Zemlya archipelago.