Lost Dog, Stranded On Arctic Ice, Rescued By Russian Sailors

Aika was later placed on a hovercraft and returned safely to the village.

A video of a fluffy white dog stranded on the cracked Arctic sea ice has emerged online. The video was captured by Russian sailors in the autonomous Yamal-Nenets region, which accounts for nearly two-thirds of Russia’s total gas production. It shows the sailors speaking in Russian and trying to get the one-year-old dog, named Aika, closer to the ship. Aika belongs to the Samoyed breed of herding dogs. The animal had strayed far from her village and was wandering near the “Alexander Sannikov’” icebreaker when it was spotted by the sailors.

Aika slowly comes closer to the ship as the crew members whistle. In footage released by regional authorities, we can see the dog walking with a limp as her paws were lacerated by the ice. Then a crew member throws a cookie on the ramp they lowered for Aika. The pooch follows the cookies and gets aboard the ship. The video then shows one of the crew members holding Aika and giving her a tour of the icebreaker.

Aika was later placed on a hovercraft and returned safely to the village, where she was reunited with her owner. The sailors used mobile communications to search for the owner. It’s not the first time the icebreaker’s crew saved a life. They rescued two snowmobilers when their vehicle fell through the ice at the Gulf of Ob in December last year, reported the Moscow Times.

Aika’s owner, Svetlana Chereshneva, told the Russian news outlet that she and members of her village had been looking for the adorable dog. It had strayed away from the village more than a week ago. After spending some time recuperating at her home, Chereshneva said, the dog is now much more cheerful and her appetite has also returned. She no longer rushes to go outside.

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