Russia has dispatched a submarine to the Arctic Ocean to plant a flag on the seabed of the ocean to claim the North Pole as its territory.
Russia plans to plunge to the bottom of the sea in the next few days to take samples it believes will prove the Lomonosov Ridge, which runs under the Arctic Ocean, is an extension of the Siberian continental shelf and therefore Russian territory.
If a country is able to prove the continental shelf is connected to their land, under a UN convention it will be able to claim sovereignty over the North Pole, a land the size of Western Europe, and all of its fuel and mineral deposits.
The Russians will also plant a one-meter titanium flag at the bottom of the sea to symbolize their claim. The sea depth of the North Pole has been measured at 13,410 ft (4087 m).
Some people believe that the Russian's Arctic expedition is aimed at sending a clear signal to world powers that Russia has shrugged off its post-cold war weakness and will be aggressively pushing and defending its national interests from now on.
'The Arctic is Russian. We must prove the North Pole is an extension of the Russian coastal shelf. Of course, [the expedition] is important in terms of science, but also in terms of geopolitics as well,' Artur Chilingarov, Russia's most famous explorer leading the mission told the media.
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