Merkury Vagin ( Russian: ''Меркурий Вагин'') (died 1712) was a Russian Arctic explorer. In 1712, together with

Yakov Permyakov Yakov Permyakov (russian: Яков Пермяков; died 1712) was a Russian seafarer, explorer, merchant, and Cossack. In 1710, while sailing from the Lena River to the Kolyma River, Permyakov observed the silhouette of two unknown island group ...

, Vagin explored the region of the eastern

Laptev Sea The Laptev Sea ( rus, мо́ре Ла́птевых, r=more Laptevykh; sah, Лаптевтар байҕаллара, translit=Laptevtar baỹğallara) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, t ...

coast. His exploration included

Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island (russian: Большой Ляховский остров), or Great Lyakhovsky, is the largest of the Lyakhovsky Islands belonging to the New Siberian Islands archipelago between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea ...

, the southernmost of the New Siberian Archipelago. With a group of

Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

they crossed the

Yana Bay Yana may refer to: Locations * Yana, Burma, a village in Hkamti Township in Hkamti District in the Sagaing Region of northwestern Burma *Yana, India, a village in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, India * Yana, Nigeria, an administrative c ...

over the ice from the mouth of the

Yana River The Yana ( rus, Я́на, p=ˈjanə; sah, Дьааҥы, ''Caañı'') is a river in Sakha in Russia, located between the Lena to the west and the Indigirka to the east. Course It is long, and its drainage basin covers . Including its longes ...

; after reaching Bolshoy Lyakhovsky, they explored the then-unknown island, which had been reported by Permyakov two years earlier. Vagin and Permyakov were murdered on the return voyage by mutineering expedition members. The Cossacks took their dead bodies down to the ice and set them on fire. No one knows what the rebellious Cossacks did with the ashes, but Merkury Vagin's remains were never found.Н. Исанин. ''Морской энциклопедический справочник,'' Том 2. Ленинград 1986, стр. 76. Merkuriya Island was later named after him.

References

1712 deaths Russian murder victims Russian explorers Explorers of Asia Explorers of the Arctic New Siberian Islands Laptev Sea Year of birth unknown Male murder victims Russian Cossacks Tsardom of Russia people {{explorer-stub