Russian Empire Bolsheviks followed in 1918. The administrative boundaries of European Russia, apart from Finland and its portion of Poland, coincided approximately with the natural limits of the East-European plains. In the North it met the Arctic Ocean. Novaya Zemlya and the Kolguyev and Vaygach Islands also belonged to it, but the Kara Sea was referred to Siberia. To the East it had the Asiatic territories of the Empire, Siberia and the Kyrgyz steppes, from both of which it was separated by the Ural Mountains, the Ural River and the Caspian Sea — the administrative boundary, however, partly extending into Asia on
Novaya Zemlya all haste for Novaya Zemlya, hoping that no German ships had arrived there before us. If they had, and it was thought that escape by sea was impossible, then the three trawlers would be run ashore on one of these God-forsaken islands. We could then salvage what we could from them and try to make our way overland and the sea ice, until we found a settlement, or until we reach the Russian mainland…not a very charming or happy prospect to look forward to. When the "Northern Gem" approached Novaya Zemlya and neared the entrance to Matochkin Strait, it quickly