At 14.54 million square kilometers, this year's Arctic ice maximum extent was the smallest on the satellite record, according to data from the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado, Boulder, TASS news agency reports. The previous lowest peak wintertime extent was recorded in 2011 at 14.65 million square kilometers.

"This is the smallest Arctic ice cap on the satellite record," the center's spokeswoman Natasha Vizcarra told TASS. She said all the center's forecasts are based only on its own satellite data, not on Arctic studies by scientists from other countries.

The previous lowest peak extent in the period from February to April was recorded in 2011 at 14.65 million square kilometers. According to NASA, the Arctic ice cap has shrunk by over 100,000 square kilometers this season.