Novaya Zemlya under naval escort to deliver desperately needed Lend-Lease supplies to northern Soviet seaports. Destruction of the Allied convoys was thus a top priority for the German Navy — and brought World War II to Novaya Zemlya. The most ill-fated and one of the largest Arctic convoys, code-named “PQ-17,” left Iceland on June 27, 1942. It consisted of thirty-four merchant ships, six destroyer escorts, fifteen additional armed ships (among which were two Free-French corvettes), and three small rescue craft. The fast-moving convoy encountered ice floes on June 30 and was forced to reduce speed. On the following morning, the convoy was
Tyko Vylka Novaya Zemlya archipelago. In 1956, the whole civil (indigenous) population of Novaya Zemlya was forcedly relocated to enable the usage of the islands as a military base and a nuclear bomb testing ground. After the resettlement, Tyko Vylka lived in Arkhangelsk, where he died in 1960s. There is a street named in his name in Arkhangelsk. In 1981, a film "The Great Sami" () appeared, featuring the career of Vylka. After one of the Rusanov's expeditions, Vylka created a report as an album of drawings, which was presented to Tsar Nicholas II. It is generally accepted however that he produced