A team of 100 people from the Russian Ministry of Defense will leave for the Arctic on May 16 for environmental clean-up, Interfax reports with a reference to the ministry.

"The team will travel to the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago and will work there from June 1 to October 1 on Defense Ministry land in the Arctic," the report said. This detachment will demolish old and derelict buildings and structures, reclaim the land and collect scrap metal.

The press release said that in 2016, over 3,600 tons of garbage was removed. The team was trained by the 12^th Main Directorate of the Defense Ministry responsible for nuclear technical assistance and safety.

"The team will carry out environmental clean-up on the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago near the villages of Belushya Guba, Rogachyovo and Severny. Plans call for collecting and removing over 2,000 tons of scrap metal, reclaiming 11.5 hectares of land, and demolishing 59 buildings," the ministry's information department said.

The Defense Ministry said that environmental clean-up of areas around military bases, garrisons and military training grounds in the Arctic will be held this year on the Novaya Zemlya and New Siberian Islands archipelagos, as well as at other areas of the Russian Arctic.