climate change, as melting ice in the Arctic allows ancient viruses and bacteria to thaw out from a million-year deep freeze.Senior Russian diplomat Nikolay Korchunov told TV channel Zvezda that the Russian government has proposed a project on biosafety to the Arctic Council to guard against unexpected hazards emerging from the melting permafrost.“There is a risk of old viruses and bacteria waking up,” Korchunov explained. “Because of this, Russia has initiated a ‘biosafety’ project within the Arctic Council”.He said that the new project would have to work on assessing a wide range of “risks and hazards” that could potentially lead to the release of “future infectious diseases.”A wide area of Russian territory in and around the Arctic.