Russian authorities declared a day of mourning yesterday following the sinking of a nuclear submarine that left nine seamen dead and revived bitter memories of the 2000 Kursk disaster.
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov ordered the day of mourning in the Northern Fleet and sailed to the site in the Barents Sea, where the K-159 nuclear submarine sank early Saturday while being towed to a shipyard for scrapping.
The governor of the Murmansk region where the Northern Fleet is based also declared a day of mourning in his region.
The submarine, whose nuclear reactor was reported to have been neutralized, sank during a storm off Kildin island while being towed to a shipyard at Polyarni, on the Kola Peninsula.
Only one of the sub's 10 crewmembers survived. Two bodies have been recovered and seven other men are missing presumed dead.
Ivanov was accompanied by the commander of the Russian navy Vladimir Kuroyedov in his visit to the site of the wreck where the weather was reported to be foggy.
The accident revived memories of the sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine which went down in the Barents Sea almost exactly three years ago, killing all 118 crew members, after a fuel leak from a torpedo caused an explosion.
Ivanov, who was ordered to the region by Russian President Vladimir Putin, sailed aboard the cruiser Marshal Ustinov to observe the search operation and examine the circumstances of the wreck, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported.
Putin, who is holidaying in Sardinia as the guest of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, has promised a "thorough investigation" of the sinking.
Ivanov late Saturday suspended the naval captain who was in charge of towing the K-159 to Polyarni.
He said an attempt would be made to raise the submarine from the seabed and that financial assistance will be offered to the families of the dead.
Defense ministry officials in Moscow said the 40-year-old submarine's nuclear reactor had been neutralized before the vessel went down, that the sub was not carrying any weapons, and that there was no danger of pollution.
Naval officials said the levels of radioactivity in the waters near the submarine, which is lying at a depth of 170m, "are normal."
RSS