The first recorded European to report the existence of the Medvezhyi Islands was Russian explorer Yakov Permyakov in 1710.

While sailing from the Lena to the Kolyma River, Permyakov observed the silhouette of the unknown island group in the then little explored East Siberian Sea.

On September 3, 1878, Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld recorded that he sailed close to the island group in the steamship Vega.

The sea surrounding the Medvezhyi Islands is covered with fast ice in the winter and the climate is severe.

There are six islands in the group: Krestovsky, Leontyev, Pushkarev, Lysova, Andreev and Chetyryokhstolbovoy, where there is a polar station which was inaugurated in 1933.