MOSCOW, Aug 2: A Russian expedition planted the country’s flag on the seabed under the North Pole on Thursday, capping a mission to claim the mineral riches of the Arctic and drawing ridicule from abroad.

“The Mir-1 submarine successfully reached the bottom of the Arctic Ocean...at a depth of 4,261m,” veteran Arctic explorer and expedition leader Artur Chilingarov told the Vesti television channel.

A Russian flag made of rust-proof titanium was deposited on the seabed as a symbol of Russia’s claims over a vast swathe of Arctic territory, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported.

The foreign minister of Canada, which has also talked up the need to defend the country’s interests in the Arctic, ridiculed the flag-planting by the Russian expedition.

“Look, this isn’t the 15th century. You can’t go around the world and plant flags and say, ‘We’re claiming this territory’,” MacKay told Canadian broadcaster CTV.

Chilingarov, who is also a member of parliament, was joined by five others for the mission, including fellow parliamentarian Vladimir Gruzdev, Swedish pharmaceuticals tycoon Frederik Paulsen, and Michael McDowell, an Australian explorer.

The six explorers made the descent in two Mir mini-submarines.

The Mir-1 had to search for a hole in the ice for 40 minutes to resurface after spending eight hours and 40 minutes underwater and it was soon followed by the Mir-2, Russian media reported expedition officials as saying.—AFP