The station was founded by the Soviet Antarctic Expedition in 1962 on the shore of Alasheyev Bight in the Cosmonauts Sea. In the Soviet period it was the country's largest Antarctic station, with about 70 structures, a fuel depot and an airfield, and was informally called the capital of Soviet Antarctica.
Станция основана Советской антарктической экспедицией в 1962 году на берегу залива Алашеева в море Космонавтов. В советские годы была крупнейшей станцией страны в Антарктиде — около 70 строений, нефтебаза и аэродром — и неофициально называлась столицей советской Антарктики.
As reported in March 2023, the station, mothballed in the 1990s, has operated on a seasonal basis since 2006.