Russia to boost Arctic research efforts

(AP) -- The Kremlin's pointman for the Arctic says Russia is boosting its research efforts to support its claims for parts of the Arctic continental shelf.

Artur Chilingarov said Monday he will head an expedition next month to launch a drifting research station in the Arctic to gather scientific data to support Russia's claim of Arctic territories, believed to contain up to a quarter of the Earth's undiscovered oil and gas.

Russia, Canada and Denmark are planning to file claims to the United Nations to prove their respective rights to the Lomonosov Ridge, an underwater mountain range.

Chilingarov, a polar scientist, led a 2007 expedition during which a Russian mini-submarine dropped a canister containing the Russian flag onto the seabed at the North Pole.