Merkury Vagin (Russian:Меркурий Вагин) (died 1712) was a Russian Arctic explorer.
In 1712, together withYakov Permyakov, Vagin explored the region of the easternLaptev Sea coast. His exploration includedBolshoy Lyakhovsky Island, the southernmost of theNew Siberian Archipelago. With a group ofCossacks they crossed theYana Bay over the ice from the mouth of theYana River; 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.[1]Merkuriya Island was later named after him.
  | This Russian biographical article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byadding missing information. |
 | This article about an explorer is astub. You can help Wikipedia byadding missing information. |