The Russian Defense Ministry was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies that 14 Russian
submariners have been killed in a incident.
As per sources, the incident took place on the AS-31 deep-sea nuclear submarine nicknamed
Losharik.
Losharik was designed for research, rescue and special operations and can hold up to
25 crew members.
As per reports, a fire broke out at 8:30 p.m. on Monday.
The ministry reported, "On July 1 in Russian territorial waters,
a fire broke out on board a deep-water scientific research vessel that was studying the marine
environment of the world ocean on behalf of the Russian navy.
Fourteen submariners died as the result of smoke inhalation ... Work is underway to establish
the cause of the incident.
The investigation is being conducted by the commander-in-chief of the navy.”
The ministry stated, the fire was extinguished “thanks to the self-sacrificing actions
of the team,” The incident is believed to have occurred off Russia’s northern shore
in the Barents Sea, though the ministry has not provided specific details
President Putin stated, “This is a great loss”,
A U.S. 6th Fleet spokesperson told USNI News he was unaware of any requests for assistance
from the Russian government.
In this video, Defense Updates analyzes the deadly mishap of Losharik sub and what it
says about the Russian military.
Let’s get started.
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As Russian-language news service RBC, Losharik is a nuclear-powered submarine operated by
the Russian Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research, also known as GUGI.
GUGI develops and operates a fleet of specialized submarines.
These vessels are shrouded in secrecy and are believed to be used for deep sea research
and covert operations.
It is interesting to note that the organization reports directly to Russian military intelligence
and not the Russian Navy.
The sub’s name is derived from a popular Russian cartoon horse that’s made out of
juggling balls.
Some reports suggest that sub is made up of a series of possibly seven orb-shaped spaces.
This design enables the sub to be able to dive deeper than a submarine which has a traditional
hull.
According to several analysts, the 2000-ton vessel can be hitched under the belly of a
specially modified Delta III nuclear ballistic missile submarine.
It is thought to be able to detach and dive to thousands of feet below the surface.
Several reports indicate vessels like Losharik could be used to disrupt undersea cables.
Russia as usually has not been forthcoming with information.
The news was disclosed nearly after a day of the incident.
From Chernobyl to Kursk and now this one, it has always tried to suppress anything which
shows Russia is bad light.
As opposed to the West, the Russian media is very much censored.
Most of the Russian state-owned media have reported on fire and the deaths but as expected
didn’t criticize the government.
Unlike those, a news site named the Bell put up a proper comment.
It stated, “Nearly a day without information about an accident in a nuclear facility and
the need to look out for Norwegian statements on the level of radiation should have given
a shudder to those who remember the Chernobyl nuclear power station.”
Norway’s Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (DSA) said that it had not detected any abnormal
radiation in the area.
It also added that its measurements were similar to the public information provided by Moscow.
Frode Pleym, The head of Greenpeace in Norway urged Russian authorities to be fully transparent
in order to “safeguard the interests both of Russia and neighboring countries like Norway”.
Russia has suffered several deadly submarine mishaps for the last two decades.
The latest one is one of the most catastrophic one since the Kursk disaster which happened
in August 200.
To give viewers an idea, here is a list of incident:
August 12, 2000: The nuclear-powered submarine Kursk sank due to a detonation in its torpedo
room.
It killed all the 118 submariners on board.
August 30, 2003: K-159 nuclear submarine sank.
The incident occurred when it was being towed to a harbor.
It was also a nuclear powered sub and the incident killed 9 crew members.
August 7, 2005: Priz submersible which is itself a rescue vehicle got trapped underwater
when it was training.
It got caught in fishing nets and cables.
Britain's Royal Navy in coordination with the United States and Japan helped rescue
the 7 Russian sailors after 3 days.
September 7, 2006: A fire started aboard the nuclear-powered submarine Daniil Moskovskiy.This
killed two crew members.
November 8, 2008: A major mishap occurred in K-152 Nerpa.
It resulted due to an issue in the fire extinguishing system.
It killed 20 sailors and injured around 20.
December 29, 2011: Fire broke out fire breaks in nuclear sub-Yekaterinburg.
Several people were injured.
Fortunately no one was killed.
September 16, 2013: It was reported the 15 sailors were injured when a fire broke out
in the Tomsk nuclear submarine.
The fire was controlled relatively quickly.
April 07, 2015: Nuclear submarine Oryol caught fire.
It happened when it was being repaired.
As per reports, there were no casualties.
April 29, 2016: Krasnoyarsk nuclear submarine caught fire during disassembly.
There were no reports of injuries.
Not only submarine incidents there have been many other incidents too.
In December 2016, a Russian military plane carrying 92 people crashed into the Black
Sea killing everyone onboard.
Admiral Kuznetsov - Russia’s sole aircraft carrier, suffered a major mishap last year
while undergoing overhaul work at a dockyard in Roslyakovo, near Murmansk.
The Kuznetsov was stationed inside floating dock PD-50.
The dock capable of handling vessels up to 80,000 tons is the biggest one Russia has
and one of the largest in the world.
On 30 Oct, the dock's tank started to take in water and led to tilting of the dock on
one side.
Somehow PD-50 did not capsize and as the water filled the dock, Kuznetsov floated and was
tugged out.
In about 4 hours, PD 50 went down and sank.
Since in August 2000, when Kursk sank to the floor of Barents Sea, there has been a lot
of speculations about the work culture as well as safety standards in the Russian Navy.
The latest accident has again drawn the focus back on the state of affairs when it comes
to the Russian military as a whole.
The military has seen budget constraints and neglect since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Present Putin has bee trying to improve the situation.
Many upgrade plans as well as better training programs are being funded.
It is to be noted that Russia’s annual military budget is around US$69.2 billion whereas its
more than US$700 billion for the United States.
The issue seems to be that Russia is trying to flex is muscles.
It has significantly increased its military activities and extended its theaters of operations.
Last year the then Defence Secretary of Britain Gavin Williamson had stated,
“We’re rapidly having to come to terms with this new age of warfare.
Look at Russia’s resurgence under President Putin.
It's submarine activity has increased 10-fold in the North Atlantic.
In March 2019, Rear Adm. Andrew Lennon, commander of NATO’s submarines said,
“Certainly, in the past decade we’ve observed an increase in Russian submarine activity
in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea.
They’ve developed some very quiet and very capable submarines.”
Taking into consideration all the telltale signs, it can be said that Russia is overstretching its military.