Polyarnik

And so, in the words of Soviet polyarniks (polar men), the Alekseyev beacon received a "higher education."

If this was his first year in the polar regions, the polyarnik would receive only the minimum increment [...]

Only a small proportion of aspiring Polyarniks were accepted.

He is not a specialist, and not a polyarnik. He has no geological training.

The leaders of the organisation — the polar captains, pilots and other groups of polyarniks — were given military ranks, and many of its employees were also called into service in the Red Army and Navy.

One of these aviators, I.P. Mazuruk, later wrote: So Stalin needed the polyarniki, but at the same time he could not trust them any more than he could other Soviet citizens.

The polyarniki— the crew of the Vostok polar station— were subjected to extensive and regular medical checks for changes in their blood count, hormone balance, peripheral nervous system and mental state.