History of Franz Josef Land for a national park covering northern Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land were launched in the 2000s. When the Russian Arctic National Park was established on 15June 2009, Franz Josef Land and Victoria Island were excluded. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the archipelago in 2010, describing it as a "giant rubbish tip". By 2011 the national park had been expanded to include Franz Josef Land in a move to better accommodate tourism in the archipelago. From 2012, Russia commenced a 1.5 billion ruble, three-year clean-up project to remove more than 100,000 tonnes of waste which had accumulated during the Soviet
Sukhoy Nos Sukhoy Nos Sukhoy Nos, also Sukhoi Nos () is a cape on Severny, the northern island of the archipelago Novaya Zemlya, belonging to Arkhangelsk Oblast of the Russian Federation, projecting into the Barents Sea. The site lies near the southwestern corner of the island, very close to the Matochkin Strait, which separates Severny from Yuzhny, the southern island of the archipelago. The cape is composed of black and reddish shale. Underwater sandbars are located off of the cape's northern shore. Numerous birds nest on the steep cliffs, particularly loons. It was known for being a site of nuclear testing for