Unic Press UK: Many Russian submariners [two of whom had previously received the country’s highest honorary title – the Hero of Russia – while seven were ‘captain 1 rank’ in the Russian Navy] died Monday in a fire in a Russian submersible vehicle in Russian territorial waters, the Defense Ministry announced.
“On July 1, fourteen submariners – sailors died in Russian territorial waters as a result of inhaling combustion products aboard a research submersible vehicle designated for studying the seafloor and the bottom of the World Ocean in the interests of the Russian Navy after a fire broke out during bathymetric measurements,” the statement reads.
The cause of the fire has not been determined. However, military investigators have launched an inquest into the deaths of the Russian News Agency TASS on Tuesday.
Reacting to the accident, the Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to travel to Severomorsk to oversee an investigation and ensure that the cause(s) of the fire is determined. “I ask you to fly to Severomorsk in order to personally listen to the reports and to aim the commission to get to the bottom of the causes of the tragedy. I ask you to report to me personally upon your return. I offer my sincerest condolences to the families of those killed. Everything possible must be done to help and support them,” the Putin told Shoigu on Tuesday.
