11 victims of Kursk disaster are buried in St. Petersburg

By Irina Titova

Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Eleven Russian sailors who died aboard the nuclear submarine Kursk were buried Saturday, their bodies interred after more than a year in the vessel’s twisted wreckage on the sea floor.

Snow fell on the coffins draped in the Russian naval flag — a blue cross on a white field — and on the heavy winter uniforms of honor guards at the Serafimov Cemetery in St. Petersburg, a city that once symbolized Russia’s naval might.

All 118 crewmen were killed when the Kursk was wracked by two powerful explosions and sank in the Barents Sea during military exercises on Aug. 12, 2000.

Authorities have identified 56 of the bodies recovered from the Kursk since it was raised and brought to dry dock last month. Two of the 12 sailors whose bodies were recovered a year ago also lie in the Serafimov cemetery.

The disaster aboard one of the navy’s most advanced vessels shocked Russia and raised widespread questions of the government’s response, which appeared slow and confused. President Vladimir Putin was criticized for failing to speak about the catastrophe until days after it happened.

The risky and expensive operation to raise most of the submarine’s hull was seen by some as an attempt to erase the stain of criticism.

Many relatives of victims said it was important to them to be able to bury their sons.

Vladimir Mityayev, whose son Alexei was buried Saturday, said that when he identified the body, "my wife and I both felt that the weight which had hung on our souls for a year fell right off."

Before the bodies were taken to the cemetery, a long line of mourners passed by the coffins as they stood in the St. Petersburg Naval Institute, where the funeral was held.

Alexei Mityayev’s mother, Marina, touched her forehead to the coffin and appeared to whisper something to his remains.

Sergei Isayenko, 15, paid a silent tribute to his father, Vasily, by wearing his own uniform at the funeral. Isayenko entered a naval college this year, and his uniform resembles the one his father wore.

Russian officials say the disaster was triggered by the explosion of a practice torpedo, but they have not determined what caused the blast, saying it could have been an internal flaw in the torpedo or a collision with another vessel or a World War II mine.

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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