The Arctic — Mission of Goodwill, which kicked off on April 4 at the Nenets Autonomous Area Tourist Culture Center, returned to its starting point on April 18. The journey around historical sites lasted for two weeks, NAO24 news agency reported.

Explorer and ethnographer Andrei Nikolayev, head of the Arctic Tourism Center Matvei Chuprov, director of the Nenets Museum of Local History and head of the regional branch of the Russian Geographical Society Ivan Khozyainov, and head of the Nenets Scout Organization Alexei Bazhukov, as well as others, took part in the expedition.

The travelers traced roughly 1,700 kilometers of a route (Naryan-Mar — Vaigach Island — Amderma — Naryan-Mar) based on the 1898 expedition route covered by Alexander Borisov, an Arctic explorer, writer and public figure and author of the book "The Samoyeds from Pinega to the Kara Sea."

"Our expedition was completely based on Borisov's route, using his book as a reference. We made stops in the exact same places that he described in his book and painted in his pictures," Nikolayev said.

According to Khozyainov, one of the goals was to enlarge the collection of the Nenets Museum.

"Workers from the Fyodorov polar station donated three different ice screws, a radio station from the 1950-1960s, field telephones, recorders for fixing moisture and atmospheric pressure, and a beluga's skull to the museum's fund. They have all been transferred to the Nenets Museum of Local History, and, in the future, we will use them as pieces in various exhibitions or as exhibits at thematic exhibitions," Khozyainov said.

The expedition will be followed by a documentary about Borisov's route and Vaigach.

The Nenets branch of the Russian Geographical Society organized the expedition.