Was there criminal negligence?
According to the plan for the exercises that took place in August 2000, the nuclear-powered submarine K-141 was supposed to carry out a simulated torpedoing of an enemy surface ship between 11-40 and 13-20 hours on August 12. But instead, at 11 hours 28 minutes 26 seconds, an explosion with a power of 1.5 on the Richter scale was heard. And after 135 seconds - a second one - more powerful. The Kursk did not get in touch until 13:50. The commander of the Northern Fleet, Vyacheslav Popov, orders “to begin acting on the worst case scenario at 13.50” and flies from the nuclear-powered cruiser Pyotr Velikiy to Severomorsk, apparently to discuss the situation. And only at 23-30 he announces a combat alert, recognizing the “loss” of the best submarine of the Northern Fleet.
On the one hand, the actions of the rescuers, which seemed sluggish to an outside observer, on the other, the seeming inaction of the country’s president, who continued to rest in Sochi for four days after the accident, on the third, data on the technical defects of the submarine, on the fourth, contradictory information from the authorities, as if who tried to confuse everyone who followed the fate of the crew - all this gave rise to rumors about the incompetence of the leaders. People, according to Vladimir Putin, indulged in their beloved folk pastime: searching for those to blame. And subsequently they were indignant that, by and large, no one was punished. But the trouble is that if we were to punish, then many would have to be punished - all those who had a hand in the collapse of the fleet, who turned a blind eye to it, who did not work at full capacity for a meager (1.5-3 thousand rubles) ) salary. But this did not matter: even if the military had started searching for the Kursk at 13:00 on August 12, they still would not have had time to save the crew.
Who gave the distress signals?
The reason for numerous speculations was the SOS signals by which the Kursk was discovered and which continued for two days. The signals were recorded on different ships, and some eyewitnesses even claimed to have heard the call sign of the submarine - “Vintik”. Until August 15, the leaders of the operation continued to assure that the connection with the crew, established through tapping, was continuing. And already on the 17th it was established as official a new version: Most of the Kursk sailors died in the first minutes after the explosion, the rest lived only a few hours. And SOS signals were recorded on magnetic tape and studied by experts. It was proven that it was not a person who was tapping, but an automatic machine, which could not have been and was not on board the Kursk. And this fact provided new evidence for the theory of a collision between a nuclear-powered ship and a foreign submarine.
The cause of the first explosion on the Kursk was the deformation of the torpedo. This is recognized by most researchers. But the cause of the deformation itself remains a matter of debate. The version of the collision with the American submarine Memphis has become widespread. It is believed that it was she who gave the notorious distress signals. In the Barents Sea, Memphis, along with other American and British submarines, monitored the exercises Russian fleet. Carrying out a complex maneuver, its officers made a mistake with the trajectory, came close and crashed into the K-141, which was preparing to fire. "Memphis" sank to the bottom, like "Kursk", plowed the soil with its nose and stood up. A few days later she was found undergoing repairs in a Norwegian port. This version is also supported by the fact that K-141 was a kilometer or two from the place from which the distress signal was sent.
When did the crew die?
The question of the time of death of the crew of the Russian submarine became fundamental. The fleet command actually admitted that at first they misled everyone: there was no chatting with the submariners. Most of the crew actually died as a result of the first and second explosions. And the survivors locked in the ninth compartment could have lasted longer if not for the tragic accident discovered during the autopsy of the corpses. The sailors' attempts to get to the surface on their own were unsuccessful. They had to sit patiently and wait for rescue. At 19 o'clock, when those above were still hesitating whether to declare a combat alert, oxygen starvation began in the compartment. The sailors needed to charge new regeneration plates. The three went to the installation, and someone apparently dropped the plate into the oily water. To save his comrades, one of the submariners rushed in and covered the plate with his body. But it was too late: there was an explosion. Several people died from chemical and thermal burns, the rest were suffocated by carbon monoxide in a matter of minutes.
Indirectly, the hypothesis about the death of the crew on August 12 is confirmed by a note left by Lieutenant Commander Kolesnikov: “15.15. It's dark to write here, but I'll try by touch. There seems to be no chance: 10-20 percent. Let's hope at least someone reads it." That is, already at three o'clock in the afternoon, the team members saved light, sat quietly in the dark and waited. And the uneven handwriting in which this second note was written indicates that Dmitry Kolesnikov had little strength left. And then in the note there was a now famous testament to all of us who are still alive: “Hello everyone, there is no need to despair. Kolesnikov." And - some phrase, missed, hidden from the public by the investigation. From that phrase new speculations grew: as if the commission was covering up someone’s sloppiness, as if the lieutenant commander responded with that phrase to the question of who was to blame or, at least, what was the cause of the accident. For a long time, investigators tried to convince us that for ethical reasons they were not revealing the contents of the rest of the note, that it contained a personal message to my wife that had no meaning for us. Until then, the public did not believe it until the contents of the classified part were revealed. But the investigation never gave the note itself to Dmitry Kolesnikov’s wife - only a copy.
On August 26, 2000, by order of the President, the submarine commander Gennady Lyachin was awarded the title of Hero of Russia, and everyone on board was awarded the Order of Courage. This news was met rather with skepticism: they decided that the country’s leadership was in this way trying to atone for their sins before the crew, to make up for the mistakes made during the rescue operation. But the commander of the Northern Fleet explained: the Kursk submariners were nominated for the award much earlier, after an operation successfully carried out in the Mediterranean in 1999, at the very height of NATO aggression in Yugoslavia. Then the K-141 crew managed to conditionally hit enemy ships five times, that is, destroy the entire American sixth fleet, and escape unnoticed. But in fairness, it is worth noting that many of those who died in August 2000 did not participate in the Mediterranean campaign the year before.
Would the Norwegians have saved?
Almost from the very beginning of the rescue operation, the British and Americans offered their help, and a little later the Norwegians. The media actively promoted the services of foreign specialists, convincing them that their equipment was better and their specialists were more skilled. Then, in retrospect, accusations were poured in: if they had been invited earlier, the 23 people locked in the ninth compartment would have been saved. In fact, no Norwegians were able to help. Firstly, by the time the Kursk was discovered, the submariners had already been dead for a day. Secondly, the amount of work that our rescuers did, the level of self-sacrifice and dedication with which they worked and which allowed them to conduct the operation around the clock, without interruptions, was unthinkable for foreign specialists. But - the main thing - even if the members of the Kursk crew were still alive on the 15th and 16th, it was impossible to save them for technical reasons. Submersible vehicles could not attach themselves to the submarine due to damage to its hull. And here the most modern and perfect technology was powerless. The submarine and its crew became the victim of a confluence of thousands of different circumstances. And her death, in which there is no one’s personal fault, is perhaps for the first time in long years, united the embittered country.
Fifteen years ago, the nuclear submarine Kursk sank in the Barents Sea, killing 118 people. This is the largest disaster for the Russian Navy in peacetime. Today in Russia - in Vidyayevo, from where the boat left on its last voyage, in Murmansk, Sevastopol and other Russian cities.
On August 12, 2000, the nuclear submarine missile cruiser K-141 Kursk, which was considered the pride of the Russian navy, took part in exercises in the Barents Sea. There were 118 people on board - crew members and civilian specialists from the Dagestan plant "Dagdizel". According to the exercise plan, the boat was supposed to “attack” a group of ships, but there was no practice shot and the crew stopped communicating. According to the official version, the Kursk sank due to an explosion in torpedo tube No. 4, which was caused by the leakage of a hydrogen mixture from microcracks formed on the torpedo body. Then there was a fire and explosion of the remaining torpedoes in the first compartment.
“Kursk” was found the next day, at the bottom, at a depth of 108 meters. The rescue operation began. The official version varied - from “tapping can be heard” to “everyone died from the first explosion.” Only on August 20 were foreigners allowed into the operation. Norwegian divers from the rescue ship Seaway Eagle finally managed to open the escape hatch. And discover that there are no survivors.
But, as it turned out later, on the first day 23 submariners were still alive. They retreated to the 9th compartment, where they died, presumably a day later. When, a few months later, divers began to lift the compartments of the boat to the surface, suicide notes from the Kursk sailors were found.
Here is a note from Captain-Lieutenant Dmitry Kolesnikov “15:45. It’s dark to write here, but I’ll try by touch... There seems to be no chance. 10-20 percent. Let's hope at least someone reads it. Here are the lists of the personnel of the compartments, some are in the ninth and will try to leave. Hello everyone, there is no need to despair.”
Over the years, a lot has been filmed and written about “Kursk,” and not everyone is happy with the official statements. There is a version about a crew error, but the most popular is that the boat died due to an American torpedo. Allegedly, the American submarines “Toledo” and “Memphis” were monitoring the exercises, the “Kursk” collided with the “Toledo” and, when the Russian submarine opened its torpedo chambers, the “Memphis”, protecting the “Toledo”, fired its torpedo. This version formed the basis of the documentary film by French director Jean-Michel Carré “Kursk. Submarine in muddy water” (Koursk: un sous-marin en eaux troubles), it was released in 2005. According to the author of the film, the cause of the submarine's death was hidden by both sides in order to avoid war.
For Vladimir Putin, who had become president only four months earlier, the accident was perhaps the first public test. Millions of people who followed the attempts to save the Kursk sailors remember how the president interrupted his vacation in Sochi only 5 days later. On August 24, in Vidyayevo, he met with the relatives of the victims. Dramatic footage This meeting, where Putin was accused of inaction, also went around the world.
But the most striking was Putin’s interview with Larry King on September 8. On CNN, when asked what happened to the Russian submarine, the president replied: “It drowned.”
Over the course of a decade and a half, the tragedy began to be forgotten - or the attitude towards it changed. According to a Levada Center survey, in 2000, 72% of respondents believed that the authorities did not take sufficient measures to save sailors; today the figure is 35%.
SUBMARINE KURSK, WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?
17 years ago the Kursk submarine sank. 118 people died - the crew, representatives of the Northern Fleet command and the Dagestan plant "Dagdizel". Information about the disaster is still classified. No one was punished. Society's attention to emergencies decreases every year. Meanwhile, experts note that, contrary to the military’s statements, no conclusions have been drawn from the tragedy, which means that something similar could happen again.
Let us recall that the sinking of the Kursk occurred on August 12, 2000 - 11 hours 28 minutes 26 seconds Moscow time. The submarine was in the Barents Sea during an exercise - it conditionally attacked a squadron led by the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and the flagship of the fleet, the nuclear-powered cruiser Peter the Great, with the Granit cruise missile, she wrote. Russian newspaper"Today, both of the above-mentioned ships are widely known for their voyage to Syria.
According to RG, in a few hours the Kursk was supposed to finish off the mock enemy with practice torpedoes. However, according to official version, one of the shells exploded. The explosion detonated other ammunition.
"No need to despair"
Most of the crew died almost immediately. However, 23 sailors were able to take refuge in the ninth compartment, where, according to some reports, they waited for help for several hours.
This will become known from notes made by submariners and later found by divers. “There are 23 people in the 9th compartment. They are not feeling well. They are weakened by the effects of CO during gastrointestinal reflux... - this is from another note, the name of the author of which, for ethical reasons, was not made public until the end of the investigation. - The pressure in the compartment is 0.6 kg/m2. We are running out of B-64. When we reach the surface, we will not be able to withstand the compression... Not enough... Absent... We will last no more than a day..." - one of them said.
However, another note left by Lieutenant Commander Dmitry Kolesnikov became more widely known. It ended with the words: “Hello everyone, there is no need to despair...” RG notes that Kolesnikov’s last entry is dated 15:15 on August 12, that is, four hours later after the explosion.
Rescue operations were carried out by the Northern Fleet and took place from August 13 to 24, but were unsuccessful. Only on August 20, the Norwegian vessel Seaway Eagle was allowed to work, whose divers were able to open the stern escape hatch of the nuclear submarine the next day. By this time, there were no longer any living people on the ship - the entire crew had died.
In 16 days, divers were able to discover and raise 12 bodies of submariners to the surface. After the nuclear-powered ship was raised, the bodies of another 103 people were removed from its hull. The bodies of three more dead - sailors Dmitry Kotkov and Ivan Nefedkov, as well as the chief specialist of "Dagdizel" Mamed Gadzhiev - could not be found. According to the findings of the prosecutor's office, they were destroyed as a result of the disaster.
During the investigation into the causes of the emergency, 18 versions were put forward, including a version of a collision with a foreign (in particular, American) ship or surface ship, the defeat of an anti-ship missile system by a torpedo or missile, sabotage or a terrorist attack, an explosion on a wartime mine, and an emergency situation on board. The American version came first. However, in the end, none of them were confirmed.
A criminal case initiated on August 23, 2000 on the grounds of a crime under Part 3 of Art. 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Violation of traffic safety rules and operation of maritime transport, resulting in the death of two or more persons through negligence”), was terminated in August 2002.
A month after the disaster - in September 2000 - Russian President Vladimir Putin, answering live on CNN host Larry King's question about what happened to the Kursk submarine, said with a smile: "It drowned." And in 2010, Putin and his successor, Dmitry Medvedev, ignored the mourning events dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the tragedy, causing outrage among the relatives of the dead sailors.
In Russia on Friday, August 12, events were held to mark the next anniversary of the sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine in August 2000. This tragedy in the Barents Sea claimed the lives of 118 submariners of the Northern Fleet. Funeral events took place in Chelyabinsk, Sevastopol, St. Petersburg, Kursk, Nizhny Novgorod, the cities where the sailors were from and where their graves are located.
Vladimir Kara-Murza:
In a number of Russian cities, mourning rallies were held in memory of the sailors of the Kursk nuclear submarine. “The youth Yabloko held a series of pickets at the Prosecutor General’s Office, which was never able to find those responsible for this terrible tragedy. Sofya Rusova and Andrei Lazarev stood at the building of the Prosecutor General's Office on Bolshaya Dmitrovka with a poster "11 years of the death of the Kursk. Who answered?"
On August 11, 2000, the nuclear submarine K-141 Kursk set out on its next voyage from the village of Vidyaevo, Murmansk Region. On the evening of August 12, it became known that the boat sank at a depth of 100 meters, 175 kilometers from Severomorsk. According to the official version, the cause of the accident was the explosion of an experimental torpedo due to a fuel leak.
23 Kursk sailors gathered in the aft compartment and were alive for another two days. Help never came to them. The disaster clearly demonstrated the helplessness of the Russian military department in extreme situations. Rescue work in the area of the sinking of the Kursk were carried out with great delays and delays, the Ministry of Defense tried in every possible way to hide the fact of the incident.
In 2002, the case was closed “for lack of guilt.” None of the top ranks of the Navy was punished. Commander-in-Chief Kuroyedov resigned due to health reasons in 2006.
The sinking of the submarine was the first test for President Vladimir Putin, who had just come to power. A week after the tragedy, in an interview with Larry King on CNN, he answered the journalist’s question “what happened to your Kursk submarine?”: “It sank.”
Today we are talking about whether the investigation into the death of the crew of the Kursk submarine should be resumed with Igor Kurdin, chairman of the St. Petersburg submariners’ club, former commander of the submarine, Boris Kuznetsov, lawyer for the families of the deceased submariners of the nuclear-powered Kursk, and Kirill Goncharov, leader of the Molodezhny "Yabloko" Do you think there was a chance to save at least those 23 sailors who gathered in the aft compartment and were alive for another two days?
Boris Kuznetsov:
Firstly, the entire crew and ship could have been saved. They had no right to release it into the sea, because the Kursk never fired that hydrogen peroxide torpedo, even during state tests. And the crew was not prepared to fire this missile. And there was even such an episode that before going to sea, and the torpedo was already loaded on board the ship, it had to be connected to the oxidizer control system. Both the officers and sailors of the Kursk submarine did not know how to do this, and invited an officer from another submarine. The second very important circumstance is that the explosion occurred at 11.28 on August 12. And this explosion was recorded not only by seismic stations, but it was recorded by hydroacoustics of the Peter the Great, which took part in these exercises, and the bearing at which the explosion occurred was determined. But the fleet command did not pay any attention to this, although the ships were in a condition, it was a combat situation or close to a combat one. The Kursk was declared emergency only 12 hours later. They discovered it quite quickly, because at the same time the “Peter the Great” passed along this bearing and at 2 hours 22 minutes knocks were heard, focusing on which the “Kursk” was discovered already at 4 o’clock.
As for the 23 sailors who ended up in the 9th compartment, they remained alive; they were alive for more than two days. Because over the course of these more than two days, knocks were heard, which were identified as the fact that people were knocking and that they were knocking on the intercompartment bulkhead of the submarine. There is a corresponding examination in the materials of the criminal case, to which the investigation also did not pay any attention. Countries, Norway, in particular, Great Britain offered their help literally on the first day, but they refused this help, and only on the 16th they agreed to this help, when there was no one left alive. These are the circumstances, these events that led to the death of the ship, the crew, and those 23 sailors.
Vladimir Kara-Murza: Please tell me what circumstances surrounding the sinking of the submarine still remain unanswered?
Igor Kurdin:
Firstly, I want to say that I completely agree with Boris Kuznetsov, who very clearly reported both the time parameters and what happened. I want to make this remark about the opening remarks, because there is too much confusion there. Firstly, the Kursk submarine went to sea not on the 11th, but three days before the explosion, and this is of fundamental importance. Secondly, Putin, in an interview with Larry King, did not say this phrase “She drowned” the next week, but much later. And there were also a lot of inaccuracies; for such an authoritative Radio Liberty station, when preparing preliminary material, it is necessary to be more scrupulous. Boris Abramovich and I, especially the relatives of the victims, feel about this, understand, if we’re going to talk, then talk honestly and specifically about what happened. There was no experimental torpedo explosion. The Kursk did not test new torpedoes, but the fact is that a torpedo that had been in service with the navy for a long time was on board the Kursk. Yes, it is true that the Kursk crew did not fire it and, in fact, turned out to be unprepared to use this torpedo. But to say that this was a new experimental one, that these were some kind of tests, is wrong. Testing is one thing, but firing a practical torpedo in service is something completely different.
Regarding this, Boris Abramovich said it well, if I’m wrong, he will correct me. He highly praised the quality of the investigation in his book, which bears the same name from the words of the president, “She Drowned.” I, too, was familiar with many of the case materials and can only confirm this. However, the conclusions are completely inconsistent with the investigation materials. And when, it would seem, I read the information, but no one is to blame. Unfortunately, we always talked about this, both we and our relatives, no one demanded that anyone be imprisoned, shot, or brought to justice. But it would be natural, having completed the investigation, to conduct not a show trial, as in the 30s, but a normal trial that would help identify the shortcomings that exist in the Navy. Because the main thing that can benefit, no matter how strange it may sound, can be derived from the Kursk tragedy is to make sure that this does not happen again. We paid 118 lives to prevent this from happening again. And when, three years later, the AF-28 bathyscaphe suffered an accident in the Pacific Fleet, the help of the British was accepted precisely in a timely manner. And it was the English rescuers who saved the AF-28 crew. It’s already good, we have learned to quickly accept foreign help.
Yes, something has changed in the navy during this time, we purchased Panther rescue complexes from the British, but it must be said that these complexes do not fully ensure the safety of submarine navigation, I mean in in this case rescuing submarine crews, but we are just beginning to develop our own systems. And the rescuer “Igor Belousov”, laid down in St. Petersburg several years ago, of which there should be four units for each fleet, is still in the embryonic stage of construction, and we do not have a normal rescuer that will ensure the safety, accident-free navigation of submarines and their rescue . Therefore, I want to focus on this: the Kursk tragedy should not be repeated, we must learn from it. Did you extract it? It seems to me not to the full extent.
Vladimir Kara-Murza: What did the tragedy of the Kursk nuclear-powered icebreaker mean to your generation?
Kirill Goncharov: First of all, “Kursk” is a lesson in cynicism that the current government taught us. Because we all remember Putin’s cynical grin on exactly that television show that was mentioned today, when he cynically announced that she had drowned. We all remember the fact that Putin interrupted his vacation only 5 days after information about the tragedy with the Kursk submarine. Therefore, first of all, this is associated with the fact that the authorities blatantly and cynically lied to the people. Because, as the discussion colleagues already said today, it was possible to save the boat, everything could have been done necessary measures to try to do this. But this was not done and therefore I personally regard it as such.
Vladimir Kara-Murza: Grigory Pasko, environmentalist and human rights activist, military journalist, captain of the second rank, does not believe that the investigation will be resumed under the current government.
Grigory Pasko: All the lessons from that long-ago tragedy have not been learned. And the fact that many issues of the general functioning of the modern navy were covered in mystery and darkness, and are still covered. For example, we still do not know about the real state of the emergency rescue service, about its availability modern means rescue at sea. Remember, after Kursk there was one of the emergency situations in Kamchatka, they also thought about whether to call in foreign specialists or not, and in the end they called the British, in my opinion. Therefore, it is no coincidence that when the Minister of Defense says that it is necessary to purchase ships abroad, he apparently knows the real state of our fleet. I think that, of course, it is possible to demand the resumption of the investigation, but under Putin this will not happen. Because “Kursk” and Putin are connected in one way or another - this is a shame, a shame for Putin, a manifestation of his cowardice when he was in some kind of stupor for five days. I think that under his power, and it will, apparently, last for a long time, unfortunately, there will be no new investigations.
The full text of the "Edges of Time" program will appear on the website in the near future.
According to the plan for the exercises that took place in August 2000, the nuclear-powered submarine K-141 was supposed to carry out a simulated torpedoing of an enemy surface ship between 11-40 and 13-20 hours on August 12. But instead, at 11 hours 28 minutes 26 seconds, an explosion with a power of 1.5 on the Richter scale was heard. And after 135 seconds - a second one - more powerful. The Kursk did not get in touch until 13:50. The commander of the Northern Fleet, Vyacheslav Popov, orders “to begin acting on the worst case scenario at 13.50” and flies from the nuclear-powered cruiser Pyotr Velikiy to Severomorsk, apparently to discuss the situation. And only at 23-30 he announces a combat alert, recognizing the “loss” of the best submarine vessel of the Northern Fleet.
By 3-30 o'clock the approximate search area is determined, and by 16-20 it is established technical contact with Kursk. The rescue operation itself begins at 7 a.m. on August 14.
On the one hand, the actions of the rescuers, which seemed sluggish to an outside observer, on the other, the seeming inaction of the country’s president, who continued to rest in Sochi for four days after the accident, on the third, data on the technical defects of the submarine, on the fourth, contradictory information from the authorities, as if who tried to confuse everyone who followed the fate of the crew - all this gave rise to rumors about the incompetence of the leaders.
People, according to Vladimir Putin, have indulged in their favorite popular pastime: searching for those to blame. And subsequently they were indignant that, by and large, no one was punished. But the trouble is that if we were to punish, then many would have to be punished - all those who had a hand in the collapse of the fleet, who turned a blind eye to it, who did not work at full capacity for a meager (1.5-3 thousand rubles) ) salary. But this did not matter: even if the military had started searching for the Kursk at 13:00 on August 12, they still would not have had time to save the crew.
Who gave the distress signals?
The reason for numerous speculations was the SOS signals by which the Kursk was discovered and which continued for two days. The signals were recorded on different ships, and some eyewitnesses even claimed to have heard the submarine's call sign - "Vintik".
Until August 15, the leaders of the operation continued to assure that the connection with the crew, established through tapping, was continuing. And already on the 17th, a new version became official: most of the Kursk sailors died in the first minutes after the explosion, the rest lived only a few hours.
And SOS signals were recorded on magnetic tape and studied by experts. It was proven that it was not a person who was tapping, but an automatic machine, which could not have been and was not on board the Kursk. And this fact provided new evidence for the theory of a collision between a nuclear-powered ship and a foreign submarine.
Did the Kursk collide with an American submarine?
The cause of the first explosion on the Kursk was the deformation of the torpedo. This is recognized by most researchers. But the cause of the deformation itself remains a matter of debate. The version of the collision with the American submarine Memphis has become widespread. It is believed that it was she who gave the notorious distress signals.
In the Barents Sea, Memphis, along with other American and British submarines, monitored Russian naval exercises. Carrying out a complex maneuver, its officers made a mistake with the trajectory, came close and crashed into the K-141, which was preparing to fire. "Memphis" sank to the bottom, like "Kursk", plowed the soil with its nose and stood up. A few days later she was found undergoing repairs in a Norwegian port. This version is also supported by the fact that K-141 was a kilometer or two from the place from which the distress signal was sent.
When did the crew die?
The question of the time of death of the crew of the Russian submarine became fundamental. The fleet command actually admitted that at first they misled everyone: there was no chatting with the submariners. Most of the crew actually died as a result of the first and second explosions. And the survivors locked in the ninth compartment could have lasted longer if not for the tragic accident discovered during the autopsy of the corpses.
The sailors' attempts to get to the surface on their own were unsuccessful. They had to sit patiently and wait for rescue. At 19 o'clock, when those above were still hesitating whether to declare a combat alert, oxygen starvation began in the compartment. The sailors needed to charge new regeneration plates. The three went to the installation, and someone apparently dropped the plate into the oily water. To save his comrades, one of the submariners rushed in and covered the plate with his body. But it was too late: there was an explosion. Several people died from chemical and thermal burns, the rest were suffocated by carbon monoxide in a matter of minutes.
Note from Captain-Lieutenant Kolesnikov
Indirectly, the hypothesis about the death of the crew on August 12 is confirmed by a note left by Captain-Lieutenant Kolesnikov: “15.15. It’s dark to write here, but I’ll try by touch. There seems to be no chance: 10-20 percent. Let’s hope that at least someone will read it.” . That is, already at three o'clock in the afternoon, the team members saved light, sat quietly in the dark and waited. And the uneven handwriting in which this second note was written indicates that Dmitry Kolesnikov had little strength left.
And then in the note there was a now famous testament to all of us who are still alive: “Hello everyone, there is no need to despair. Kolesnikov.” And - some phrase, missed, hidden from the public by the investigation.
From that phrase new speculations grew: as if the commission was covering up someone’s sloppiness, as if the lieutenant commander responded with that phrase to the question of who was to blame or, at least, what was the cause of the accident. For a long time, investigators tried to convince us that for ethical reasons they were not revealing the contents of the rest of the note, that it contained a personal message to my wife that had no meaning for us. Until then, the public did not believe it until the contents of the classified part were revealed. But the investigation never gave the note itself to Dmitry Kolesnikov’s wife - only a copy.
Why was the captain of the Kursk awarded the title of Hero of Russia?
On August 26, 2000, by order of the President, the submarine commander Gennady Lyachin was awarded the title of Hero of Russia, and everyone on board was awarded the Order of Courage. This news was met rather with skepticism: they decided that the country’s leadership was in this way trying to atone for their sins before the crew, to make up for the mistakes made during the rescue operation.
But the commander of the Northern Fleet explained: the Kursk submariners were nominated for the award much earlier, after an operation successfully carried out in the Mediterranean in 1999, at the very height of NATO aggression in Yugoslavia. Then the K-141 crew managed to conditionally hit enemy ships five times, that is, destroy the entire American sixth fleet, and escape unnoticed.
But in fairness, it is worth noting that many of those who died in August 2000 did not participate in the Mediterranean campaign the year before.
Would the Norwegians have saved?
Almost from the very beginning of the rescue operation, the British and Americans offered their help, and a little later the Norwegians. The media actively promoted the services of foreign specialists, convincing them that their equipment was better and their specialists were more skilled. Then, in retrospect, accusations were poured in: if they had been invited earlier, the 23 people locked in the ninth compartment would have been saved.
In fact, no Norwegians were able to help. Firstly, by the time the Kursk was discovered, the submariners had already been dead for a day. Secondly, the amount of work that our rescuers did, the level of self-sacrifice and dedication with which they worked and which allowed them to conduct the operation around the clock, without interruptions, was unthinkable for foreign specialists.
But - the main thing - even if the members of the Kursk crew were still alive on the 15th and 16th, it was impossible to save them for technical reasons. Submersible vehicles could not attach themselves to the submarine due to damage to its hull. And here the most modern and perfect technology was powerless.
The submarine and its crew became the victim of a confluence of thousands of different circumstances. And her death, for which there was no one’s personal fault, perhaps for the first time in many years, united the embittered country.