Arkhangelsk Oblast Arkhangelsk region were Poonezhye () along the Onega, the Dvina Land along the Northern Dvina, Pinezhye () along the Pinega, Mezen Lands along the Mezen, and Pomorye () on the White Sea coast. The main waterway was the Northern Dvina, and Novgorod merchants used the Volga and its tributary, the Sheksna, along the Slavyanka River into Lake Nikolskoye, then the boats were taken by land to Lake Blagoveshchenskoye, from there downstream along the Porozovitsa River into Lake Kubenskoye and further to the Sukhona and the Northern Dvina. Portages from the Northern Dvina Basin led further to the Mezen and the
Arkhangelsk Oblast and the non-freezing harbour of Murmansk, lost its significance as the main trading harbour of the Russian Empire. However, in the early 20th century Arkhangelsk was an important starting point for Russian Arctic expeditions. For instance, in the 1830s Pyotr Pakhtusov sailed twice from Arkhangelsk to investigate and map Novaya Zemlya. In 1932 the "Icebreaker Sibiryakov" under the command of Vladimir Voronin, sailing from Arkhangelsk, crossed the Northern Sea Route in a single navigation. In 1918 and 1919, Arkhangelsk Governorate became one of the most active battlegrounds of the Civil War in Russia. On August 2, 1918, Arkhangelsk was occupied