MOSCOW, Aug. 12 (UPI) — Russia marked the 15 year anniversary Wednesday of the Kursk nuclear submarine disaster in which all 118 crew men on-board died.
The most modern of the Russian Northern Fleet’s nuclear submarines, the Kursk, was hit by two explosions within two minutes of each other during a routine military exercise on Aug. 12, 2000. Off the 118, 95 crew members died immediately. The remaining 23 submariners managed to survive the two explosions and take shelter in the stern compartment, where they stayed alive for eight more hours, described Russia Beyond the Headlines.
Memorial services took place Wednesday as flags were lowered in ports and cities throughout the country. The tragedy was seen as one of the first major challenges for Russian President Vladimir Putin who assumed the presidency less than a year prior, BBC reported.
While the blast at sea had been detected by international monitors, Russia kept silent for two days and Putin did not return from a scheduled holiday.
At the time, media reports were critical of how the tragedy had been handled.
Just days after the disaster, 72 percent of Russians said that more could have done more to save the crew of the Kursk. In a recent poll by the Levada Center, a Russian research organization, the number went down to 38 percent.
A full, official report into the tragedy has been classified until 2030.
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