International Expedition “Icebreaker of Knowledge” Returns from the North Pole: Young Representative from Serbia at North Pole (point 90°) for the First Time in History

The seventh scientific-educational expedition “Icebreaker of Knowledge,” organized by the Russian state corporation Rosatom, has successfully completed its ten-day Arctic voyage along the route Murmansk – North Pole – Franz Josef Land – Murmansk. This voyage went down in history as the 200th expedition of a surface vessel to reach the Geographic North Pole, and among the participants was a high school student from Serbia

Extremely talented young researchers, pupils, and students aged 14 to 16 from 22 countries around the world gathered on the deck of the nuclear icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy—including participants from Vietnam, Brazil, Uzbekistan, India, China, Hungary, South Africa, and Serbia.

Of special significance for the domestic public is the fact that a high school student from Serbia was among the participants for the first time, making him the first student from our country to set foot on the northernmost point of the planet. “It is an absolutely unbelievable feeling to realize that I am the first student from Serbia to reach the North Pole. Standing at the Pole with the Serbian flag, I felt immense pride and responsibility,” the young high school student stated upon returning to Murmansk.

Stratospheric Experiments and a Traditional Round Dance

A rich scientific and educational program was organized during the voyage, featuring an actual aerospace laboratory. Together with experts, the students carried out two unique scientific endeavors:

• The launch of a radiosonde to secure communications in hard-to-reach areas of the Arctic and along the Northern Sea Route.
• The testing of the world’s first recoverable stratospheric platform (drone).

In addition to scientific workshops and co-authoring a science fiction story with renowned author Sergey Lukyanenko, a symbolic event took place on the day the vessel reached the northernmost point of Earth—the northernmost international round dance (khorovod, kolo) was performed around Point 90° (the North Pole).

Rigorously Competitive International Selection

Around 5,000 students from all over the world competed for a spot on the nuclear icebreaker across three elimination rounds—ranging from STEM quizzes and webinars on nuclear technology applications to presenting original papers before an international jury on how nuclear technologies are changing the world.

The icebreaker’s captain, Ruslan Sasov, along with experts from Rosatom’s scientific division, emphasized that the goal of the project is to introduce young people firsthand to real-world technologies and science that address global challenges, as well as to demonstrate the operational capabilities of Russia’s unique nuclear-powered fleet.

Russia is notably the only country in the world operating a fleet of nuclear icebreakers. The fleet operator is FSUE Atomflot (a subsidiary of Rosatom), which currently manages eight nuclear icebreakers. Furthermore, the Northern Sea Route (NSR) serves as the shortest shipping lane between western Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific region. In 2018, the Government of the Russian Federation designated Rosatom as the infrastructure operator responsible for developing this key Arctic route.

Source: Rosatom / Icebreaker of Knowledge

S.A.