MOSCOW – When the “Kursk” submarine sank in the Barents Sea on 12 August 2000, killing all 118 crew members on board, Russian President Vladimir Putin was on holiday at the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Only belatedly — and it appeared to the Russian media and public only reluctantly — did he fly on 22 August 2000 to the “Kursk’s” base in Murmansk to offer condolences to the families.
The slow response was widely criticized by the media, who said it was evidence that Putin was unfeeling and out of touch with Russian citizens.
Putin, reacting to the criticism, promised to raise the sub to find out what caused it to sink and to give the dead crewmen inside a decent burial.
In November of that year, a preliminary salvage operation was begun and 12 bodies were recovered. Now, a more advanced operation involving the Dutch company Mammoet is underway. Divers are cutting holes in the hull so the sub — except for the severely damaged front section — can be lifted to the surface by cables next month. Salvage teams say they also hope to recover the bodies of at least one-third of the crew.
The effort is not without its critics. Many point to the high cost of the operation — an estimated $70 million — and the risks to the divers involved. The “Kursk” still houses live torpedoes, cruise missiles, and a nuclear reactor. While experts say the risk of an explosion is small, no one knows for sure.
Critics also say that — even if more bodies are recovered — the process of salvaging the sub will only prolong the tragedy for the families’ victims.
Svetlana Baigarina from St. Petersburg is the wife of Captain Murat Baigarin, one of the victims. She said the salvage effort only means more stress. Not only will relatives have to identify bodies, they are also concerned for the safety of the divers.
“[When] we understood that for our men nothing would have changed [if they were brought to the surface], we didn’t want any of the divers to die,” Baigarina said. “Most of the families signed a letter — [and we sent it to the government] — to stop the raising [operation]. But in November, [the operation] was started anyway.”
But Baigarina concedes that having her husband’s body recovered would provide closure.
“There is a tradition that when a sailor dies, he should be left to the sea,” Baigarina said. “But on the other hand, I’d like to have a grave where I can go and visit [my husband].”
Roman Kolesnikov is the chairman of the St. Petersburg Foundation for Relatives of the “Kursk.” His son, Lieutenant Captain Dmitrii Kolesnikov, went down with the “Kursk” and was one of the 12 bodies recovered last November.
“[The endless debates about the ‘Kursk’ salvage operation] made the families so tired that now they say they don’t know what to do. They don’t say they are against [raising the ‘Kursk’]; they say they simply don’t know whether it should be raised or not,” Kolesnikov said.
But Nadezhda Tylik from the southern city of Anape sees the issue differently. She lost her son Sergei in the tragedy and says that after a year, she is glad to see authorities finally making good on their promise to raise the “Kursk.”
“It was what [the families] demanded one year ago from Putin. [Authorities] are doing what they promised us,” Tylik said. “At the time, Putin said that the submarine would be raised.”
The cause of the accident remains a mystery. Most people now believe that a torpedo exploded in the front of the ship, sending it to the bottom of the sea.
Officials have said that they expect to recover just one-third of the crew because when the accident occurred most of the sailors were probably in the front of the sub, which will remain on the sea floor.
Captain Igor Kurdin, the head of the St. Petersburg Submariners Club, said his organization is working with families to prepare them for the likelihood that their relatives may never be found.
He said that in cases where the bodies of victims cannot be found, the Russian Orthodox Church has approved a unique alternative.
“[The families] should be ready for the fact that inside the coffin there will be a capsule — made from the metal of the submarine — full of seawater,” Kurdin said.
Navy officials have said that if weather conditions are good, the salvage operation could be finished sometime next month. The “Kursk” then will be towed into the port of Roslyakovo, in the Murmansk region, for inspection and dismantling.
For the time being, the victims’ families are waiting and are ready to fly to Roslyakovo to identify the bodies.
