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.

ECONOMIST: Ventures into the near-abroad

It plans to send two mini-submarines under the North Pole to scoop samples and deposit the Russian flag.

ECONOMIST: Politics this week

Russian scientists are keen on proving that the seabed below the North Pole is part of the Eurasian continental shelf, an area called the Lomonosov Ridge.

CNN: Countries in tug-of-war over Arctic resources

Having dropped (back in 1990) a plan to build the world's biggest ice-breaker, the Canadians may also have to seek Russian help next time they need to carve out a path to the North Pole: even the patrol boats ordered up by Mr Harper this month won't match Russia's leviathans.

ECONOMIST: The Arctic

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

ECONOMIST: The scramble for the seabed

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

CNN: The price of our oil addiction

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.

CNN: Countries in tug-of-war over Arctic resources