Unknown Yamal 2016 expedition sets out from Novy Urengoi
© RIA Novosti. May Nachinkin

Unknown Yamal 2016 expedition sets out from Novy Urengoi

On June 30, members of the Unknown Yamal 2016 expedition set out from Novy Urengoi, reads a message on the Facebook account of Gazprom Dobycha Yamburg, the project's co-sponsor.

"The travelers are to visit the geographical center of continental Russia, whose coordinates were calculated by Dmitry Mendeleyev in 1906. They will explore the upper reaches of the Taz River and assess the environmental situation at Verkhne-Tazovsky nature reserve," the announcement reads. Expedition members also plan to visit the site of the notorious Stalin-era Construction Project No. 503, whose aim was to build the useless Salekhard-Igarka railway nicknamed the Dead Railway, and Mangazeya, the first Russian town above the Arctic Circle that was established in the early 17th century.

They will travel 1,800 kilometers along local roads and rivers and are to return on July 18.

The expedition is sponsored by the regional division of the Russian Geographical Society, the Yamal-Nenets Maritime Assembly and Gazprom Dobycha Yamburg.