Pair Of Arctic Foxes Flee Massive Russian Icebreaker

This is the moment a massive Russian nuclear powered icebreaker bears down on a pair of terrified Arctic foxes that are seen running backwards and forwards on the ice in order to get out of the way.

The footage was shot by a crew member on board the Ural, a massive Russian nuclear powered icebreaker built by the Baltic shipyard in St Petersburg that started active service last year.

The ship was built as part of the Project 22220 to create a series of nuclear powered icebreaker’s. So far three have been delivered, with another four almost completed or under construction.

The video was shot in the Yenisey Wwhich is the fifth longest river system in the world that starts off in Mongolia and then passes down through Lake Baikal before draining into the Kara Sea in northern Siberia, where it is covered with ice for three quarters of the year.

But important trade routes pass through its icy cold waters and there are several ports, as a result the massive icebreaker is needed to keep the areas clear.

The Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus) and had apparently been exploring their Arctic tundra home when the massive icebreaker started bearing down on them.

Arctic foxes run infront of a giant Russian icebreaker, called the “Ural”, on the Yenisey river, undated. Arctic fox is a small fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. (@Atomflot_official/Newsflash)

Despite its white camouflage the foxes can be clearly seen running left and right as they attempt to dash out of the way of the massive ship.

A spokesman for Atomflot getting dark but they had been forced to turn off their lights so that the foxes could orientate themselves instead of simply running ahead to try and escape the ship.

The organisation then shared the video, saying it was taken by Nikita Boev, the senior assistant to the captain of the Ural icebreaker, before being shared on their official telegram channel.

Arctic foxes at this time of year form breeding pairs and unfortunately for these two, one ends up on one side of the massive canal and the other dashes to the other side.

With their thick fur, unlike commentators speculated that they probably could have swung back to join each other rather than being permanently divorced by the channel left by the massive ship.