The second nuclear powered icebreaker built by the Soviet Union after Lenin, Arktika was the first in the second generation of nuclear powered icebreakers. She was designed for clearing shipping lanes of the North East Passage across the northern areas of the Soviet Union; on August 17th 1977 she became the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.

Later there were many voyages of the nuclear powered icebreakers to the North Pole with tourists aboard, and it became common practice for the icebreakers. From May 1999 to May 2000, the Arktika nuclear powered ice breaker worked for one year without calling to Murmansk, which proved the reliability of the vessel on the 25th year of her operation.