Stranded Russians make it home

A major Arctic rescue effort succeeded last weekend when a helicopter plucked 12 Russian scientists off drifting ice not far from the North Pole.

Their base camp had disappeared into the sea when the ice they were on started breaking up after it was crushed by a huge wall of ice – “like a meat grinder” – according to one of the survivors.

The camp, called North Pole-32 or Sverny Polyus-32, marked Russia’s return to polar research after a break of 12 years.

The ice floe was located around 700 kilometres northwest of Norwegian-controlled Svalbard Islands.

The rescue operation was tricky because the ice floe kept drifting, making it difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the Russians.

The Russians had been at the base camp since last April to study climate changes and take mineral samples.

The base already had drifted 2,750 kilometers with the ice in a clockwise direction around the North Pole.