The Soviet Antarctic Expedition (SAE) was part of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute of the Soviet Committee on Antarctic Research of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.

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The Soviet Union's Ministry of Sea Transport was responsible for the administration, logistics and supply of the expeditions.The first Soviet contact with Antarctica was in January 1947 when the Slava whaling flotilla began whaling in Antarctic waters.

The year-round Russian stations on Antarctica

• Mirny (established February 13, 1956)

• Vostok (established December 16, 1957)

• Novolazarevskaya (established January 18, 1961)

• Molodyozhnaya (established January 14, 1963)

• Bellingshausen (established February 22, 1968)

• Leningradskaya (established February 25, 1971)

• Russkaya (established March 9, 1980)

• Progress (established April 1, 1988)

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The Soviet Union is also know for it's nuclear-powered icebreakers. The NS Lenin was the first Nuclear icebreaker in 1957 and belongs to the Arktika class. This type of icebreaker was built until 2016. The ships (6 in total) were operated by the Murmansk Shipping Company until 2008, when they were transferred to the fully government-owned operator Atomflot. 

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