Putin decorated high-ranking officials who went to the Arctic deep sea to plant flags.

　　　　 Profile photo: On August 7, 2007, Chilingarov, a well-known Russian Arctic expert and vice chairman of the State Duma (lower house of parliament), showed a photo of the Russian flag planted at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean in Moscow. On the 2nd, the expedition team led by Chilingarov dived from the North Pole to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean with a depth of more than 4,000 meters, and planted a Russian flag made of titanium alloy on the bottom. Xinhua News Agency/Reuters

　　　 Xinhuanet Moscow, January 11th (Reporter Liu Yang) Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order on the 10th to award the title of "Russian hero" to Chilingarov, vice chairman of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament), who participated in the Arctic deep-sea expedition last August and planted the national flag on the seabed.

　　　 According to the Itar-Tass news agency, Russian State Duma Chairman Gryzlov congratulated Chilingarov when he presided over the Duma meeting on the 11th. Chilingarov said that winning this honor is an important event in life, which also shows that Russia attaches importance to the Arctic issue and has regained its influence on the polar issue.

　　　 Chilingarov said that the Arctic deep-sea scientific research activities have both scientific purposes and geopolitical implications. The expedition team planted the Russian flag on the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, symbolizing that the sovereignty of this area belongs to Russia.

　　　 It is reported that Chilingarov was also awarded the title of "Russian hero" by Sa Galjevic, director of the laboratory of the Institute of Oceanography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Cherniaev, commander of the deep-sea submersible of the Institute of Oceanography of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

　　　 On August 2, last year, Chilingarov led the expedition team to dive from the North Pole to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean with a depth of more than 4,000 meters, and planted a Russian flag made of titanium alloy on the bottom. Some media commented that Russia carefully planned the deep-sea expedition codenamed "Arctic-2007", with the purpose of not only scientific research, but also enhancing its political and economic influence by claiming Russia’s ownership of most parts of the Arctic.

　　　 Experts from the Institute of Oceanography of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources have previously said that the boundary of Russia’s continental shelf in the Arctic ocean floor should be determined according to the geological structure of the seabed, and Russia is likely to submit a weighty scientific investigation report to the United Nations, demanding that Russia’s continental shelf in the Arctic be increased by 1.2 million square kilometers. It is estimated that the oil reserves in this region may be 9 billion to 10 billion tons.

Editor: Feng Ye