The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has begun the scheduled evacuation of the "North Pole 2015" drifting ice station in the Arctic, the ministry's press service reports.

The scheduled evacuation of the ice station will take about two weeks and be handled by the icebreaker Kapitan Dranitsyn, which will leave Murmansk on the night of August 5, the report says.

The ship will evacuate 17 people, and remove some equipment and recycled domestic waste. It will be back in Murmansk in mid-August 2015.

The ministry also reported that over the past four months, the station personnel have conducted a series of unique research projects, and monitored the environment in these high-latitude areas of the Arctic.

"Due to favorable weather conditions, the station could operate longer than planned. During the summer float, the researchers gathered important data on biodiversity and climatic change. The first results will be made available to the public in early fall," Minister Sergei Donskoi said.

"The North Pole 2015" seasonal ice drifting station was officially opened on April 18, 2015 in the presence of Dmitry Rogozin, chairman of the Russian State Commission on the Development of the Arctic, Environment Minister Sergei Donskoi and Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev.