On 7–8 September 2021, simultaneously in seven subjects of the Russian Federation, an interdepartmental 'Safe Arctic' experiment and research exercise on the implementation of measures to protect territories within the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation from emergencies will take place, the press service of EMERCOM of Russia reported.

It is stated that the large-scale exercise is led by the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, and organised on behalf of the President of the Russian Federation. The need for such exercise became clear following the response to the emergency in Norilsk in the spring of 2020. It's important to mention that, as of May 2021, Russia began its two-year chairmanship of the Arctic Council, which comprises the eight Sub-Arctic countries (Russia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the United States). The operator is the Roscongress Foundation.

In Arkhangelsk and Murmansk Regions, the Komi and Sakha (Yakutia) Republics, Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Nenets and Chukotka Autonomous Areas, twelve emergency drills will be run, each of which reflects an area-specific emergency situation.

This is the first time that such an experiment and research exercise will take place in the Arctic zone. All forces and means of the Russian system of Prevention and Response to Emergencies (RSChS) will demonstrate their combat readiness to protect the population and territory of our country from a wide range of emergencies. The centre of the exercise will be the cities of Norilsk and Dudinka. 

The main feature of the upcoming exercises is their experimental and research nature. Therefore, in addition to standard practical goals, they contain research goals, on the achievement of which the researchers of the EMERCOM of Russia will be focused. One of these goals is to study the peculiarities of creating an interdepartmental grouping of forces and means for carrying out emergency rescue operations related to the elimination of emergency oil spills in the waters of the Arctic zone. Proposals will be developed for the use of various methods of evacuating passengers from sea vessels.

A study will be carried out on the issues of interaction between the personnel of diving stations and calculations of unmanned underwater vehicles during underwater work of special (special) purposes at underwater potentially dangerous objects in the Arctic seas.

Research will be carried out on the possibilities of localizing and eliminating a fire on a ship in conditions of the threat of exposure to transported chemically hazardous substances by the local fire and rescue garrison, including determining the sufficiency of forces and means to localize the spread of hazardous chemicals into the territory of the port and settlement. Scientists are investigating the possibilities of eliminating the ignition of oil products by the firefighters and rescuers available in the regions.

It should be noted that the aforementioned research objectives of the exercises are only a vector that determines conceptual directions, which can be scaled up to many independent studies. For a high-quality scientific study of each issue of the exercises, all leading research and educational organizations of the EMERCOM of Russia are involved.

The exercises are proposed to involve seven territorial subsystems of the RSChS of the regions involved in the orbit of the event, 28 functional subsystems of the RSChS created by the federal executive authorities, as well as the forces and means of economic entities implementing large economic and infrastructure projects in the Arctic.

A business program is woven into the exercise program, which includes holding plenary sessions, thematic sections and round tables. In each region, on the territory of which the practical training of injections is planned, an exhibition exposition will be deployed with a demonstration of technical means, equipment, outfit and equipment designed to solve various tasks to ensure integrated security in the Arctic zone.

As part of the exercise, a set of socially significant events will be held. These are safety lessons "The Russian Arctic Security Week", master classes, flash mobs, open days in the units of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, sports and concert events. The festivals of mobile baths and cuisine of the Far North will be held.