Founded by the Soviet Union in 1957, the station lies at the southern Pole of Cold, with the lowest reliably measured natural temperature on Earth of −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F; 184.0 K).

Vostok Research Station is around 1,301 kilometres (808 mi) from the Geographic South Pole, at the middle of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.

[13] In 1991, Jeff Ridley, a remote-sensing specialist with the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College London, directed a European satellite called ERS-1 to turn its high-frequency array toward the center of the Antarctic ice cap.

Lake Vostok lies some 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) below the surface of the central Antarctic ice sheet and covers an area of 14,000 square kilometres (5,400 sq mi).

[16] On January 28, 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in the ceremony of commissioning the station's wintering complex via video link.

[17] Vostok Station Tractor: Heavy tractor AT-T 11, which participated in the first traverse to the south geomagnetic pole, along with a plaque to commemorate the opening of the station in 1957, has been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 11) following a proposal by Russia to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.

The building has been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 88), following a proposal by Russia to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.

[19] Vostok Station has an ice cap climate (EF), with subzero temperatures year round, typical as with much of Antarctica.

[22] Of official weather stations that are currently in operation, Vostok is the coldest on Earth in terms of mean annual temperature.

[25] In addition to the extremely cold temperatures, other factors make Vostok one of the most difficult places on Earth for human habitation: Acclimatization to such conditions can take from a week to two months and is accompanied by headaches, eye twitches, ear pains, nose bleeds, perceived suffocation, sudden rises in blood pressure, loss of sleep, reduced appetite, vomiting, joint and muscle pain, arthritis, and weight loss of 3–5 kg (7–11 lb) (sometimes as high as 12 kg (26 lb)).

In 1996 it was stopped at depth 3,623 m, by the request of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research that expressed worries about possible contamination of Lake Vostok.

This ice core, drilled collaboratively with the French, produced a record of past environmental conditions stretching back 420,000 years and covering four previous glacial periods.

The brittle zone is approximately between 250 and 750 m and corresponds to the Last Glacial Maximum,[34] with the end of the Holocene climatic optimum at or near the 250-metre depth.