MURMANSK, October 12. /TASS/. Russia’s territory has grown by 10 square kilometers — the area of five Monaco principalities — following discovery of nine islands in the Arctic, the head of the Northern Fleet’s hydrography service said on Monday.

"The largest island is two kilometers long and 600 meters wide," said Igor Naumov in comments on findings from the Northern Fleet’s latest expedition.

The 41-day mission under way since August 18 also discovered five straits, seven capes and four bays, he said.

The expedition’s 5,000-kilometer route crossed the Barents and Kara seas and reached Rudolf Island, Russia’s most northerly point, Naumov said.