Members of the 2007 Russian Arctic expedition to the North Pole have been honoured with the country's highest awards. For the first time the scientists managed to lay the Russian flag on the seabed below the North Pole.

The awards were presented by President Putin during a ceremony in the Kremlin's Yekaterininsky Hall.
 
Three participants of the expedition – Artur Chilingarov, Anatoly Sagalevich and Yevgeny Chernyayev – were awarded the title of Hero of Russia.
 
Australian Mike McDowell, the founder of Deep Ocean Expeditions, a company that also took part in the mission, received the Order of Friendship.
 
The perilous voyage supported Russia’s efforts to claim an underwater mountain range believed to be rich in oil and gas.

The claims sparked a debate with other nations as to who can claim the Arctic sea bed.

“In spite of some very strange and distorted western press reports, this was a Russian expedition, with Russian logistics and Russian expertise. And it is something of which the Russian Federation should be extremely proud,” Mike McDowell stressed.  

As for some strange interpretations, he added, “history will speak for itself.”