Vladimir Vladimirovich was silent and touched the Russian flag that was standing next to him.

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The ship has been flying a Curacao flag, but it will be switched to a Russian flag "in order to avoid a possible detention of the ship, " the state-run Itar-Tass news agency reported.

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Artur Chilingarov, an adventurer and deputy speaker of Russia's parliament, led two Russian mini-submarines to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean beneath the North Pole, where he collected gravel and planted the Russian flag.

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Next to him stood a Russian flag.

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In a showy technological display August 2, 2007, a Russian submarine planted an underwater flag 14, 000 feet (4, 200 meters) below the North Pole.

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There's also a Confederate national flag and various Imperial Russian, Prussian and German parade helmets, rank caps, medals, insignia and uniforms.

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Six years later a Russian submersible was to plant a titanium flag on the seabed 4km below the North Pole.

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"I wasn't a top player or an important player, so the Russian Tennis Federation gave me the green flag to go, " she said in an interview last week.

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On August 2, 2007, a Russian submarine with two parliamentarians on board planted a titanium flag two miles beneath the North Pole.

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