A Russian navy boat was sunk by a walrus in the Arctic (Picture: Getty/Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation)

Sailors were forced to flee when a walrus attacked their boat after it got too close during an Arctic mission.

It is understood the Russian Navy were sailing with the Russian Geographical Society off the coast of remote Franz Josef Land when they came too close to her calf.

Protecting her baby, the walrus launched its attack when sailors on the navy’s tug boat Altai got into smaller inflatable dinghies to sail to shore.

In a statement released yesterday, the Geographical Society said: ‘The boat sank, but a tragedy was avoided thanks to the prompt action taken by the squad leader.

‘All landing participants safely reached the shore.’

Russia’s navy, The Northern Fleet, said the group of researchers had to flee the female walrus after it attacked an expedition boat while protecting her cub.

The Kremlin’s Defence Ministry omitted the detail about the boat sinking.

It said: ‘Serious troubles were avoided thanks to the clear and well-coordinated actions of the Northern Fleet servicemen, who were able to take the boat away from the animals without harming them.’

Sailors were using the navy’s Altai tug boat but hopped into dinghies to sail ashore (Picture: Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation)

A female walrus can weigh up to 2,000lbs or more than 900kg (Picture: Getty)

Franz Josef Land, in the Russian Arctic, is an uninhabited group of islands in the Arctic Ocean, making up the northernmost part of Arkhangelsk Oblast.

The only humans staying on the land are military personnel.

Norwegian-Russian newspaper The Barents Observer reported that the researchers may have been flying a drone too close, which could have spooked the walrus.

The expedition was aimed at retracing the steps of Austro-Hungarian explorer Julius von Payer, who discovered the archipelago in 1873, naming it after the Emperor Franz Joseph I.

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Walrus can become extremely aggressive and their ability to capsize boats is well documented.

They are also huge and an average female weighs over 2,000lbs, about twice as much as a grand piano.