A new Arctic drift station North Pole-40 was officially opened on Monday after a Russian flag was hoisted over it. The station is expected to be a key component of Russia’s scientific exploration of the vast northern region.

      The station, symbolically named “Russia,” will hold a team of about 16 researchers during the upcoming winter. It is planned to use it for a varity of scientific and oceanographic research. Like a typical drifting ice station the North Pole-40 has a serivce life of about one year.