Authorities of Russia's Arkhangelsk Oblast have confirmed that for the first time tourists have sent postcards from the Hooker Island in the Arctic territory of Franz Josef Land.

The tour group, including Chinese, Americans, French and Russians, was brought there by nuclear-powered Russian icebreaker "50 Years of Victory", and was able to send postcards to their families and friends from the newly-opened post office on the island.

The first postcard sent from there was addressed to Shanghai by a Chinese tourist, post office staff confirmed.

But they also pointed out that another post office on neighboring Heiss Island is still considered the northernmost post office in Franz Josef Land, an archipelago of 191 islands in the northern Barents Sea, the northernmost territory of Russia.

A total of five Arctic cruises, with around 800 tourists on the "50 Years of Victory", have been organized this year.