Moscow will host official ceremonial events marking Polar Explorer Day on May 22. The events are being organized by the Interregional Public Organization, Association of Polar Explorers (ASPOL), led by eminent polar explorer Artur Chilingarov, the Russian President's special representative for international cooperation in the Arctic and Antarctic.

Polar explorers from different generations, scientists, representatives from government bodies, backbone companies, scientific and public organizations and other officials will take part in the festivities.

The program includes an ASPOL Council open meeting to discuss the organization's work in 2017-2018, which is aimed at popularizing the Arctic agenda, combining expert competencies and strengthening the role of the public in the development of Russia's Arctic.

A photo display, Polar Ice Heroes, dedicated to the polar explorers of the 1930s, will open as part of the celebrations, commemorating members of the steamship Chelyuskin polar mission of 1933-1934 and participants of the world's first drifting station, North Pole-1 (1937-1938). The exhibit is organized by the Vse Vmeste (All Together) charity foundation.

The festivities will take place from 17:00 to 21:00 on May 22 at the Arbat cultural and entertainment center at 21 Novy Arbat in Moscow; guest registration will be open from 16:00 to 17:00.

Eighty years ago, on May 21, 1937, a plane carrying the first polar explorers reached the North Pole. On June 6, 1937, the world's first Soviet polar research drifting station, North Pole-1, was launched, led by Ivan Papanin.

Over the decades that have passed since Ivan Papanin's heroic endeavor, the number of people involved in Arctic development has grown dramatically. This profession is no longer reserved for individual pioneering heroes. Up to 2 million citizens of the Russian Federation can be called polar explorers now including specialists in many civil and military professions working in high latitudes and residents and indigenous peoples of the Far North.

The Interregional Public Organization, Association of Polar Explorers, was established at the National Congress of Polar Explorers in 1990. The President of ASPOL is the Russian President's special representative for international cooperation in the Arctic and Antarctic, Artur Chilingarov.

The ASPOL's mission is to protect the interests of polar explorers, residents and the indigenous peoples of the Far North; to increase the prestige of the polar professions; to promote professional growth and social activities of polar explorers; to assist in the implementation of the government's policy in the Arctic and Antarctic; to help develop and implement programs in the field of environmental conservation and the protection of the polar territories.