NSL Update 12-04-01
MOSCOW, Dec. 1 -- Hours after gingerly casting blame on
Russia's navy for the deadly sinking of the Kursk submarine, President Vladimir
Putin today disciplined several high-ranking
commanders.
Adm. Vyascheslav Popov was fired from his position as chief of staff of the
Northern Fleet, as was Vice Adm. Mikhail Motsak. Their new jobs were not
announced. Fourteen other officers "have been dismissed or received various
disciplinary penalties," said top naval commander Adm. Vladimir Kuroyedov.
The military chief of staff, Anatoly Kvashnin, told reporters the actions were
not linked to the Kursk sinking. But just hours before, Putin observed that the
Kursk investigation "enables us to draw a rather definite conclusion on the
quality of preparations for, and organization of, military exercises and the
organization of search-and-rescue operations."
The remarks are the closest Putin has come to placing full blame on Russian
commanders for the Kursk's sinking. The nuclear-powered vessel sank Aug. 12,
2000, during an exercise off Russia's Barents Sea coast. All 118 people aboard
died. The disaster laid bare both the vulnerabilities of Russia's decaying
naval force and the failings of its top leadership.
When the sub sank, naval and government officials waited more than a day to
announce the disaster, gave erroneous times for the sinking and were tardy in
dispatching rescue missions. They issued reports of live sailors on board and
accounts of rescue efforts that never took place.
The sinking presented Putin with his first political crisis after about seven
months in office. Under intense public criticism for staying at a Black Sea
resort as the disaster unfolded, he pledged a full investigation and promised to
raise the Kursk from the seabed. Most of the sub was recovered this fall in a
Russian-Dutch salvage operation.
Today, Putin backed away from the allegation that the Kursk sank after colliding
with a U.S. submarine. He said that all theories were still open and the
investigation was continuing, but he added: "It should be admitted that,
despite a large amount of work done, no objective evidence proving this theory
has been received."
U.S. officials said the Kursk sank when a torpedo exploded. A Russian defense
journal said the Kursk was testing a volatile propulsion system that blew up,
ignited other torpedoes and caused a cataclysmic explosion.