Russia is falling a bit behind Europe in exploring the Arctic, said Russian Special Presidential Representatives for International Cooperation in the Arctic and Antarctic Artur Chilingarov.

"We are falling behind a bit. The MOSAiC project (an international multi-purpose floating observatory for research on the Arctic climate)… they will anchor their research icebreaker Polarstern to an ice floe this year," Chilingarov said Friday on the sidelines of a research conference on the North Pole 2020 drifting polar station.

A similar Russian expedition will begin in 2020. During such expeditions, an icebreaker is anchored to an ice floe and remains moored as the floe drifts.